[ale] Wandering OT: Re: Car PC's and internet radio?

[Pete Hardie]

On 4/17/07, Jeff Hubbs <hbbs at comcast.net> wrote:
> OK, this leads me to ask something I've been wondering about.
>
> I don't know how many channels one can select from with XM/Sirius
> (hereafter, simply XM), but I understand that it's A Lot (i.e., more
> than 100).  My question is, does the XM receiver actually receive all of
> the data stream from all of the channels at once and select from among
> them (which is what in effect occurs with terrestrial radio), or is
> something transmitted from the receiver upstream when the XM radio is
> turned on or when a channel is selected?
>
> If the latter is in fact the case, I find the notion chilling due to the
> social engineering implications of a mass medium in which the medium
> knows exactly what each and every recipient is receiving, present and
> past.


Do you have cable TV?  They already do some of this, and plan to do
more; all supposedly "anonymized", but there are plans to deliver
"targetted" ad streams to households, based on neighborhood
demographics.  Tivo already "recommends" stuff to you, so they are
even able to derive your interests (somewhat - google "My Tivo think's
I'm gay!")


-- 
Pete Hardie
--------
Better Living Through Bitmaps