Satellite Radio Rules

RADIO is awesome, isn't it? It's free, it's on whenever you want it, and you can choose from among eight or 10 stations. About the only people who could possibly complain about it, in fact, are people who have to listen to it.

They'll tell you that the music you hear on the radio is mostly the same cloying pop junk, played over and over. That 20 minutes of every hour is ads, played over and over. And that as you drive, the signal comes and goes with the territory.

Two years ago, two companies - XM and Sirius - came up with the same solution: pay radio. Each went to the trouble of blasting private satellites into orbit. Each beams 100 channels of clean, static-proof digital sound down to XM and Sirius receivers in the cars and home stereos of monthly subscribers.

So why would people pay for radio, when they have a free alternative?

Because satellite radio is fantastic - a cultural source unlike any other. It's so addictive, the Sirius manual actually refers to its customers as "users."