vsa said:
You have a computer at home or at work with an Internet connection. You can therefore listen to Internet radio for free at home or at work. If you have wi-fi at either location, you can do it wirelessly for free. If you use an Internet-connected cell phone for work or personal reasons, the ability to hear Internet radio for free is a free added bonus. If your car comes equipped with a Wimax-connected computer/router/Internet/entertainment system, Internet radio comes along for the ride free as an extra. People already do or will be doing this. Adding Internet radio capability usually only requires SOFTWARE, not dedicated hardware. Get it? This is Internet radio's biggest advantage over HD radio. Unless HD radios come along for the ride, being contained inside devices people will gladly buy anyway, HD radio will remain dead. Since it requires dedicated hardware that is proprietary to iBiquity, it will always be an added cost to the manufacturer and will raise the total cost of any product that includes it.
Well then, if you look at it in those terms, when HD radio comes as a standard in every radio, then it'll be free as well. You seem to forget, the only way Wi-Fi radio will completely work is by making it portable. And by protable, I mean buying extra equipment. (and don't bring up the whole PSP thing up because clearly, you haven't used one) Wimax will likely be at an extra cost, and don't forget the Bill you will receive in your mailbox after every month. Clearly, the only people that will move to Wi-Fi are Satellite radio users since they are clearly the only ones willing to pay a bill. Then you still have to consider if they want variety over commercials since some of these stations do carry like one commercial an hour or so.
Then we also have to consider how much companies and advertisers are willing to push this idea. Wi-Fi radio isn't a stable place for advertisers and you know that many of them will push against it since Wi-Fi Radio is to spread out and has too many stations. This is not something companies want and if it hurts their ability to sell their products, then they will clearly see this as their enemy. Putting advertisements on Internet radio isn't good since the audience is spread out all over the place. Advertising agencies will fight against it.
vsa said:
Internet radio's second advantage is that it is two-way. A third advantage is that you can deliver unique programming and spots and do it on-demand if you'd like. A fourth advantage is that there are no geographic signal limitations. Every station can fully reach its chosen market with an interference-free and robust digital signal. Internet radio will grow as surely as the Internet itself will continue to grow.
Your fourth advantage is very wrong. Try crossing the border Ami or Amigo, then what will you do? Pay the exaggerated international fees?Satellite radio is satellite radio, and standard radio and HD radio are already on the other side of the border. Mexico already has HD stations in central Mexico and last I checked, many of it's Northern stations are allowed to run HD. Even here in Texas there are roads that T-Mobile does not cover and guess what, I can listen to HD radio on the same road. There are geographic limitations to Wi-Fi radio.