So, I'm starting to consider that perhaps satellite radio should be the next thing on which I waste my money. I had seriously considered the purchase in the past, and probably would have bought it by now, but I bought my iPod, and just fell in love with that, and now it's harder to see why I need satellite radio. But having someone else pick the songs has its advantages, and it is a way to expose yourself to new music. I'm tempted to just get an on-line subscription to one or the other, and stick to just the iPod in the car. But I'm not sure if it's worth the price. Both XM and Sirius offer three-day trials, so I will probably test-drive them both in the near future (wait for a live event I'm interested in to coincide with the trial). I did notice that Sirius is going to present Theater of the New Ear in November. This program (or at least Charlie Kaufman's portion--I don't recall the Coen Brothers being involved) was recently performed at UCLA to good notices, and I very nearly attended, but decided it wasn't worth the drive. So I will probably wait until November to try their trial offer. (I had intended to sign up for XM's trial offer some time ago, to hear a Randy Newman performance, but ended up forgetting about the whole thing until it was too late)

One question: Can you record satellite radio? I seem to recall there was some software that allowed this, and that one of the satellite radio companies freaked out and it nearly resulted in them ending the on-line portion of their service. I noticed that much of their exclusive content is only available at one prescribed time, just like normal radio, and a means to record it would be useful.

Anyway, I'm just thinking things over. Like I say, I love my iPod, and I don't really see satellite radio worth the investment. I have my iPod, as well as plenty of radio internet stations to listen to. Maybe by the time I need a new car, satellite radio will be a fairly standard add-on, and I'll take the plunge then. Or maybe I'll hit it big in Vegas and sign a five-year contract with one of the two (which one? XM seems to have better music offerings, somewhat more open-ended and let heavily programmed, while Sirius seems, on my examination of their current schedule, to have some better exclusive content...and they have local favorite Mojo Nixon). Or maybe I'll realize I need that $7/month subscription fee to pay off my gambling debts. No radio station is worth broken kneecaps, after all.