rv8ch
Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 250
Location: Switzerland
|
 Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 10:31 am Post subject: XM and the 396 |
 |
|
| Quote: | I would love to own a Garmin 396. I could buy one sure...but....I am
loathe to commit to an ongoing monthly subscription for the primary
reason for buying one......XM weather services. To me, a on-going
$50 per month service fee is not an insignificant commitment. Beside,
I just don't like elective monthly payments period.
|
The only people that like recurring payments are the companies
that receive them. However, they are something that helps
companies make money, which if you want the service to continue,
is a good thing. I have no idea how many weather subscribers
they have, nor what it costs them to provide this service, but
I agree that USD 50/month is a chunk of change.
| Quote: | I keep reading reports that XM radio is in serious financial trouble
and is generally falling short of its goals. Is XM satellite weather
subject to the same financial pressures as XM satellite radio?
Cutting to the chase: Within the framework of our capitalistic
system, it is reasonable to suppose that XM technology is here to
stay BUT at some point a structural reorganization will likely occur
within the XM industry. If so, is there any likelyhood that monthly
subscription services for XM weather services relevant to the 386
(and its eventual successor) will trend downward like so many other
hi-tech consumer products?
|
I think the price will go down when they have competition. I have
read that WSI will start using Sirius satellites for weather
broadcast, which should lower their prices a lot. Today, they
are much more expensive than XM. They will have trouble when
they drop the prices, since they have a lot of subscribers
paying over USD 1000/year. Not sure how it will all play out.
Of course, there's also ADS-B coming "real soon now". ADS-B
has the promise of weather as well, but no doubt we'll
make another exception to capitalism and anoint one company
to own and control the sending of information to the cockpit.
Who knows what they will charge for it.
One way to make it cheaper is to share a subscription amongst
several pilots. For example, if 10 pilots get together and buy
5 receivers and subscriptions, it becomes half the price. Not
sure if the Ts&Cs of the service allow this, but might be worth
a look.
--
Mickey Coggins
http://www.rv8.ch/
#82007 finishing
do not archive
| | - The Matronics RV-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?RV-List |
|
_________________
Mickey Coggins
http://www.rv8.ch/ |
|
Get Email Distribution Too!
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
