Ex(m)cellent
While I was killing time in Circuit City the other night, waiting for my new car stereo to be installed, I impulse-purchased an XM Radio Roady2 unit. My original plan was to play with it for a month, then return it, but after a weekend, I’m impressed enough to probably keep the darned thing.
First up, it has to be said that $9.95 is a thoroughly fair price to pay for commercial-free themed music. I’ll be getting my indie-kicks listening to the ‘Lucy’, ‘XMU’ and ‘Ethel’ stations, which, unlike the “You’re never more than 30 minutes away from an early 90s U2 song” world of Boston alternative radio, don’t go to 5 minutes of commercials every 5 songs.
And—oh joy of joys, can it be true?—pledge-break-free WBUR content on XM Public Radio. Hurrah!
For anyone who’s XM-curious, the Roady’s an excellent kit. It contains everything you need to get going in your car—cigarette lighter adaptor, receiver (including an internal FM transmitter), magnetic antenna to put atop your car (the entire roof becoming the receiving surface!)
There’re some well thought-out features built-in too. I particularly like the “memory” functionality—If you hear a song and want to find out more about it later, just hit the “memory” button, and you can lookup the track name and artist later.
The only downside? The temptation for Joy to channel-surf round the 60s, 70s and 80s channels may drive me nuts!