[narkspud]

 http://reviews.cnet.com/2300-33_7-10001201-13.html?s=0&o=10001201&tag=mncol;page

"12. HD Radio (2003-?)


HD radio was supposed to be the next great thing in "free" radio, offering clear, digital "CD quality sound" and more listening choices. But it's been slowed by the manufacturing costs of both the HD Radio chips and the radios themselves--as well as poor marketing. This year, the prices for HD radios have come down considerably--note the Sony XDR-F1HD and portable Insignia NS-HD01--giving hope to backers and fans that the technology will find more success next decade."


Satellite radio is #7 .

 

[mdovell]

Talk about being cruel...


First off there's not much still around that is going to become a mass market device at least of a brand.


mp3's are not dominated by apple


laptops aren't dominated by microsoft


gps's are not dominated by garmin


I can agree on stand alone dvd recorders, super/dvd audio...


Segway I can see as it's not mass market but that's due to the price


tapwave sure...

Funny spot watches are there as I think my subscription runs out these week. Spot technology is interesting but the watch itself is large and requires recharging every few days. Some features are nice like the news but traffic is pointless if it's not in real time. Tell me networks has just about the same information for free on their 800 number service

foleo definatly....the life drive was interesting but the pre takes things to a higher level.


I wouldn't call hd a flop or satellite as the businesses are still running

 

[farmer_joe]

Cnet might have called this one a little too early. Maybe during the year it was overhyped and then didn't deliver in the time frame promised... but that doesn't mean it doesn't have a chance in the future.

 

[mdovell]

Technically when has there ever been a technology that's been accepted instantly?


CD's came out in 1983 I think...I didn't know anyone that really had a cd player until at least 10-12 years later


computers existed back in the 70's and 80's but I'd say windows 95 is what really brought it to the masses (I know a fair amount about other systems and formats...and yes the C-64 is still the highest selling computer ever)


I remember talking about dvd's in 1997 and people thought it wasn't a big deal. Fast forward five or so years and plenty of people had them


cell phones took till probably the late 90's or so before they were really accepted (due to price and size I'd say too)

 

[scowl]



Quote:
Originally Posted by mdovell /forum/post/16894325


Technically when has there ever been a technology that's been accepted instantly?

Subscription satellite television is the only one I can think of. Things usually take at least five years after they become affordable.

 

[DrDon]



Quote:
Originally Posted by scowl /forum/post/16895005


Subscription satellite television is the only one I can think of.

Tell that to Primestar .

 

[scowl]

Wasn't Primestar intended to provide cable-equivalent service for the small percentage of people who couldn't get cable where they lived?

 

[speer360]



Quote:
Originally Posted by scowl /forum/post/16896785


Wasn't Primestar intended to provide cable-equivalent service for the small percentage of people who couldn't get cable where they lived?

Yea Primestar was marketed by a consortium of cable television operators to people who lived near a cable franchise area but it cost too much to run the cable to the house.

 

[DrDon]

Does make me wonder what HD Radio would be used for if it doesn't go mainstream. We bought the gear. No reason not to use it.


I'm thinking..


Foreign language programming

Local religious interests

Talking Books

Some of the other things FM got used for in its infancy.

 

[scowl]

Probably more of what it's being used for now: programming that doesn't cost anything.


One station here switched formats to the predictable "Hits of the (something) Decades" (I think 70's and 80's). Their HD-2 format has the exact same format minus the commercials and the DJ's telling us that last song was by Huey Lewis and the News. If you wanted to listen to this format, you could simply switch to the HD-2 channel and avoid the commercials and maybe never switch back. I don't know why they did this.

 

[CarterEskew]



Quote:
Originally Posted by mdovell /forum/post/16890805


Talk about being cruel...


First off there's not much still around that is going to become a mass market device at least of a brand.


mp3's are not dominated by apple


I wouldn't call hd a flop or satellite as the businesses are still running

Apple's iPod has over 70% of the MP3 market-share - as of September 2008, more than 173,000,000 iPods had been sold worldwide, making it the best-selling digital audio player series in history. Only about 2,000,000 Microsoft Zunes have sold, making the Zune a market-flop.


In a sense Satellite Radio is a flop, as subscriptions have stalled at about 20,000,000 - I wonder, how namy of these "subscriptions" are actually sitting on dealer lots unactivated. Also, the churn-rate for Satellite Radio is very high, and debt is in the billions. Satellite Radio is more like radio of the niches.


Give in-dash Internet Radio time, along with the "personalized" music services of Pandora, Slacker, Last.fm, etc and Satellite and HD Radio will fade into the sunset. Slacker has a new portable radio that comes preloaded with millions of songs that are updated through Wifi hotspots - this could very-well be an iPod killer, of sorts. Apple may already have sold around 10,000,000 iPhones, the latest model without analog radio, or HD Radio. Apple will never include terrestrial radio directly on any of its products, as all add-ons are kept as accessories, only. The addition of terrestial radio has not proven to make other MP3 players more marketable.


In five years, with virtually no consumer interest, CNET's assessment of HD Radio, as a flop, is correct. More iPhones sold in one weekend than HD radios, since the first HD radio sold in January 2004. There are no compelling reasons for consumers to purchase HD radios, as it offers nothing new over current analog SCA/RDS services and/or FMeXtra, as is actually deficient in many ways.

 

[Brad Bishop]

CNET was right on these..


HDRadio is a flop. If they were going to do something with it it would have happened years ago.


Sat Radio made a bigger splash but stalled. I think their deal of including it in new cars (like first 3mos - 1yr free or whatever the deals they have) are good going forward but most of what you see at Best Buy or Walmart is that little section of abandon display junk. You know - that area that isn't quite clearance but is getting close because no one maintains it. Looking at their radio offerings it's not much wonder - the radios look like something you'd pick up from RadioShack in the early 90s (the sort of weird junk-appeal). It's too bad - I think that they have a good product if they didn't just blow their wad buying up useless talent. It is really nice to be able to drive out of town or through towns on trips and still have your radio playing the same station.

 

[mdovell]

"Apple's iPod has over 70% of the MP3 market-share - as of September 2008, more than 173,000,000 iPods had been sold worldwide, making it the best-selling digital audio player series in history. Only about 2,000,000 Microsoft Zunes have sold, making the Zune a market-flop."


So what EXACTLY is the mp3 market share? Countless devides can play mp3's. My lap top, my home computer...my pda...I can burn to cd and cd players often times read cd's as data mp3 tracks.


"In a sense Satellite Radio is a flop, as subscriptions have stalled at about 20,000,000 - I wonder, how namy of these "subscriptions" are actually sitting on dealer lots unactivated. Also, the churn-rate for Satellite Radio is very high, and debt is in the billions. Satellite Radio is more like radio of the niches."


Given that it's still the only way to hear stern and opie and anthony they'll be demand. 20 million subscribers for anything is significant. Heck you can't find a newspaper that has circulation that high, let alone tv ratings...


"In five years, with virtually no consumer interest, CNET's assessment of HD Radio, as a flop, is correct. More iPhones sold in one weekend than HD radios, since the first HD radio sold in January 2004. There are no compelling reasons for consumers to purchase HD radios, as it offers nothing new over current analog SCA/RDS services and/or FMeXtra, as is actually deficient in many ways."


um...RDS is nice don't get me wrong but no one I know has a FMeXtra tuner. If it's nothing new why are colleges and non profits near me using it? Why are there call in shows with people calling in?


iphone I've heard frankly might be nice but users hate AT&T. That's why some are using skype with the itouch as it's cheaper.

 

[CarterEskew]



HD radio was supposed to be the next great thing in "free" radio, offering clear, digital "CD quality sound" and more listening choices. But it's been slowed by the manufacturing costs of both the HD Radio chips and the radios themselves--as well as poor marketing. This year, the prices for HD radios have come down considerably--note the Sony XDR-F1HD and portable Insignia NS-HD01--giving hope to backers and fans that the technology will find more success next decade."[/i]

"IBiquity Digital's HD Radio Technology Wins CNET 'Next Big Thing' Award At 2005 International Consumer Electronics Show"


So much for the hype - pretty amusing.

 

[scowl]



Quote:
Originally Posted by CarterEskew /forum/post/16901397


There are no compelling reasons for consumers to purchase HD radios, as it offers nothing new over current analog SCA/RDS services and/or FMeXtra, as is actually deficient in many ways.

You talk as if HD Radio is trying to knock FMeXtra as the primary digital broadcasting format in this country! Hundreds of stations are broadcasting HD Radio and almost none are broadcasting FMeXtra, mostly because it is less reliable than HD Radio and has no chance of being accepted by listeners.


FMeXtra is a bigger flop than HD Radio. It costs next to nothing to install yet stations still don't want anything to do with it.

 

[CarterEskew]



Quote:
Originally Posted by scowl /forum/post/16902323


You talk as if HD Radio is trying to knock FMeXtra as the primary digital broadcasting format in this country! Hundreds of stations are broadcasting HD Radio and almost none are broadcasting FMeXtra, mostly because it is less reliable than HD Radio and has no chance of being accepted by listeners.


FMeXtra is a bigger flop than HD Radio. It costs next to nothing to install yet stations still don't want anything to do with it.

Nope. My point being, as there was no demand for FMeXtra, thus there is no demand for HD Radio. Consumers never demanded extra digital streams, thus FMeXtra never took-off. The only reason that HD Radio has gotten this far, is because of iBiquity's push. The major broadcasters like IBOC because it causes interference to the adjacent-channel, smaller broadcasters, replacing their programming with the HD2/HD3 streams.

 

[TydalForce]

Please Do Not Feed The Trolls

 

[DrDon]



Quote:
Originally Posted by CarterEskew /forum/post/16902369


The major broadcasters like IBOC because it causes interference to the adjacent-channel, smaller broadcasters, replacing their programming with the HD2/HD3 streams.

This is totally false. There is nothing to be gained by interfering with stations in other cities, many of which are co-owned. Plus, if this were the case, we'd be hearing from those station owners. As it stands, we don't. The only interference issues we have are with a co-channel station hundreds of miles away, and those issues not only pre-date HD technology but have not increased with its adoption. If anything, HD radios allow listeners to hear the music free of the noise generated by that interference.


So, this argument is moot.

 

[mdovell]

Here's something somewhat OT but related.


How is this concept of jamming adjacent stations any different from high powered AM at night?


Heck I can get a flood of stuff from NYC to the point where local stations cannot broadcast at night.


660, 710,770, 880, heck 1500 (wtop), I think there's one from chicago, wwl etc.


So how come you weren't fighting those stations and asking them to turn down the power?


"The major broadcasters like IBOC because it causes interference to the adjacent-channel, smaller broadcasters, replacing their programming with the HD2/HD3 streams."


How does that explain why public radio is on it...AND my states university system...AND some colleges. Replacing programming with the streams? Um no I don't see anything of that because not all hd2's and hd3's are streams to start with.


I know don't feed the trolls but this is getting lame.

 

[DrDon]



Quote:
Originally Posted by mdovell /forum/post/16903929


I know don't feed the trolls but this is getting lame.

Perhaps it's time to close the buffet?