Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Satellite radio

I flew AirTran Airways this weekend to Pittsburgh to see Helen perform in performed by The Pittsburgh Savoyards. And to go to the Beaux Arts Ball.

AirTran provides XM satellite radio in each armrest. Now some other airline provides DirectTV in each seat-back. But I argue XM is a better choice, especially for red eye flights, because on red eyes the TV selection is limited, they charge for movies, and it's much easier to sleep to music than either TV or cabin noise. Plus I would prefer to read on flights, instead watching TV. Maybe if I had kids I'd choose TV over radio.

Plus, XM is better than the canned 12-channels 80-minutes of music that most flights have, because XM has 50+ channels of music, and then more of sports, talk, etc. And they have 2 electronica stations! So I can listen to a similar selection of what I'd listen to on my iPod, but without using battery. On normal flights with normal in flight music, I can't even find a station I like, and then on a 4 hour flight I hear the whole set 3 times.

Now don't get me wrong, AirTran isn't really convenient out of the bay area - they only have 2 flights from SFO, one to Indianapolis, and the other to Atlanta. But XM satellite radio is a great choice. Plus, XM wins: this weekend I realized how cool satellite radio is, and I just might have to get it in my next car. I still love you, Live 105. But I am not always in range.

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