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Pandora Competes Handily With Satellite Radio
November 9, 2007
In the past I have written about not allowing the XM/Sirius satellite merger take place. I figured it would be bad for consumers. However a single website changed my mind a few months back. That website is actually a streaming radio station which allows you to play the customized music you like. It is called Pandora and it is an absolutely great idea.About a month ago or so I realized that any wireless broadband service provider could stream 
Pandora radio and compete quite nicely with XM or Sirius. In fact I used to listen to Sirius radio on my computer but since I discovered Pandora I have found this site is much better at playing songs I like.
Pandora radio and compete quite nicely with XM or Sirius. In fact I used to listen to Sirius radio on my computer but since I discovered Pandora I have found this site is much better at playing songs I like.The ability to customize the station infinitely by voting on songs and artists is the site’s greatest strength.
There are still benefits to listening to Sirius or XM such as having stations predefined for but on Pandora, the more I listen, the better the service gets.
So I retract my prior comments inferring a merger between Sirius and XM Satellite Radio would be a bad idea. In fact, as long as the wireless service providers and traditional radio stations can compete with satellite radio, the merger can take place without too much harm being done.It is really fantastic that a single website can disrupt an industry to such a degree that it changes the competitive landscape.
I want to give tremendous credit to AT&T who has partnered with Pandora before I had a chance to even write about my idea. The cost? Just $8.99/month after a free five day trial.
This is a great move for Pandora and AT&T and it also helps me answer the secret question I have when I listed to Pandora radio – How do they monetize this site anyway?
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The Future is UnClearWire
November 9, 2007
TMCnet’s Russell Shaw reports in his Regulation blog that Clearwire and Sprint Nextel are not going to work together on a nationwide WiMAX network. Citing a story in the Wall Street Journal, Shaw says:
A letter of intent to build such a network was signed in July, when Gary Forsee was still CEO of beleaguered Sprint Nextel. But that was before Forsee- who had championed the deal- lost significant support among his company's Board of Directors, resigned his position in early October.Forsee's departure, as well as what the Journal sources termed the "complexities of the transaction," were apparently too much to convert the letter of intent into a signed, sealed commitment with a firm go-ahead.
Obviously this is not good for Clearwire or WiMAX in general. It is also not good for Sprint whose strategy seems to shift more than the wind as of late.
One reason this deal fell through could be that Sprint has thrown in the towel and decided to sell. This would make sense because there are willing buyers in the cable companies and Google may too be on the sidelines ready to make a bid. We may be hearing some M&A news from the company in the upcoming months. This is pure speculation mind you but the cable companies do need a wireless play and owning Sprint makes a good deal of sense.
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Ballmer on Android
November 9, 2007
In case you are interested in Steve Ballmer’s response to Google’s entry into the mobile phone market, check this story out.
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