Wayne Mulligan_

XMSR and Sirius: Bigger Problems Than FCC Approval

I own Apple stock? I wish somebody told me ;)

XMSR and Sirius: Bigger Problems Than FCC Approval

163888 - Music is trending towards free...Apple came out with its own study showing 95% of content on someone's iPhone has NOT been paid for. This trend will continue and eventually we'll be left with either a) incredibly inexpensive music subscription services, or b) an ad supported model (this doesn't include the continued boot legging, which is what most folks do anyway - whether or not that's what they want to call it).

Never before - TV is a bad comparison - have we have access to such a vast amount of consumable content on our fingertips.

Forget WiFi - look at the Amazon Kindle: it uses the high-speed Edge network and it's FREE.

Me an idiot? Maybe, but definitely not for making a call like this :)

XMSR and Sirius: Bigger Problems Than FCC Approval

@alexr78 - Full disclosure: I don't own, nor have a shorted, a single share in ANY of the companies mentioned in this article.

Saw a question come up on my site (tickerhound.com) and decided to weigh in on it. Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong...what I REALLY enjoyed out of this whole process was the discussion that this article prompted.

For me, it's about engaging a community of intelligent people and hearing what they have to say. So, with 43 comments and counting, I can proudly say, mission accomplished!

I love sites like SeekingAlpha for this reason - it brings multiple opinions to the forefront and makes it all available for regular, retail investors.

And that's why I write these articles...that's why I run TickerHound.com...it's NOT to make money off of the stocks I discuss. It's to engage a community of intelligent people and hopefully help some folks make better decisions as a result of the debate/discussion that occurs.

XMSR and Sirius: Bigger Problems Than FCC Approval

@porcelain altar - I guess we're just looking at it from different perspectives. I'm not arguing as to what the business models will be behind this - subscription vs. ad support or a combination of both - what I am saying is that by giving users more control, piggy backing existing distribution platforms and technology and the falling prices of everything from bandwidth to storage, Apple is in a better strategic position than sat rad.

We're seeing this in many industries, not just music - Amazon's kindle (while I think they should be discounting the price of the device and just making money off of the books they sell) is giving away the wireless internet access in order to increase book sales/downloads.

Only time will tell how this situation will play out, but I definitely respect the debate and arguments you put forth.

Do you have a blog or a site you publish on regularly?

-Wayne

XMSR and Sirius: Bigger Problems Than FCC Approval

@Porcelain Altar - you make some good points, no doubt...and I'm not totally writing off satellite radio.

The thing to keep in mind however is that with a distribution channel already locked down (having 53 million+ iPods in people's hands) gives Apple a HUGE competitive advantage. Now let's throw in wireless connectivity (as we're seeing with the iPhone), the falling prices for storage, bandwidth, etc. and you could have the equivalent of radio-on-demand coming to your iPod whenever, wherever.

Your arguments are certainly valid, but for all you know about the coming technical innovations in satellite radio, you're certainly ignorant of the existing technologies available on the web and mobile devices.

-Wayne

P.S. After I go to school? Damn, I knew I forgot to do something :)