Sunday, December 30, 2007

History of Howard Stern



So I have an old Sirius S50 with a car mount which works fine and my girlfriend has a Stiletto (one) but neither of us do a lot of time shifting because it's a little difficult to program them and you get into issues with pulling them out of your car and putting them into the home unit to record, etc. etc.

Sirius still doesn't time shift well. And frankly, their hardware and software doesn't come close to the iPod which I use every day to time shift NPR and half a dozen news and tech shows.

However, I finally started time shifting again because the "The History of Howard Stern" programs. I know a lot of fans have been bitching because Howard's off for a couple weeks over the holidays, but I think this alternative programming is more than worth it. They are amazingly well produced and give great insight into the origin of one of the greatest minds (seriously) of our time.

All of which gets me back to the issue of why this stuff isn't available for downloading on iTunes. Surely there is no logic to the idea that allowing fans to purchase and keep these serious documentaries covering Howard's history would somehow cannibalize the regular broadcast or in any way hurt Sirius subscriptions. In fact, how could they not but help Sirius sales by bringing some people curious about Howard into the family.

I hope, and pray, that Sirius (and Howard) are simply being cautious while waiting for the merger to close before pursuing a serious expansion of Howard's reach into the internet. Once that deal is closed, the fans, and history, deserve to have this programming easily available for any hardware.

Sirius (even after the merger) will never be a great hardware manufacturer. Not on the level of Apple or Sony. They are broadcasters first, and should focus on broadcasting. Their efforts and manufacturing hardware was necessary to create a new broadcasting medium. But the sooner they allow subscribers to use any type of hardware they like, the quicker they will expand their audience.

And God bless the 19 year old Howard Stern (as discussed in the History) that didn't fuck the 16 year old girls when he was a camp leader in charge of them. He is a better person for it, and I'm sure the girls are too. It's rare that a young girl learns that there are some men that won't do anything for pussy. But it's better to learn that at 16 when you're still cute, rather than 30 when you think you are fading.

Mary

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Howard's Christmas Card

We all know Howard Stern is a funny guy. At least when he's on the air. But anyone who has met him in person can tell you he is just as funny and interesting when he's not performing.

A great example is the Christmas (oops, I mean Holiday) card he and Beth O. sent out to lucky friends. It's hilarious and in typical Howard Stern fashion he pokes fun at himself. Sending up Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie it pictures him walking with a very pregnant Beth and several adopted kids of many colors. The look on his face is truly priceless.

Inside, the card reads: "Happy Holidays! May all your wishes come true. Love, Howard, Beth, Maddox, Zahara and Shiloh."

Below is a scan of the picture. Click to get the full effect.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Sirius on iPhone



So the iPhone has been out for over eight months. (I'm loving mine!) But still no sign of any software fix (or paid upgrade) to allow iPhones to stream Sirius either over the internet or the ATT connection. Technically, there is no reason it can't be easily done. With Apple predicted to announce that 5 million iPhones have already been sold next month, why wouldn't Sirius be working on this?

My guess is that they are, but they are waiting for the merger to be completed first. It was hard enough convincing the FCC that satellite radio had tons of competition from traditional radio and the internet without revealing that their programming not only can be in every car built, but also on every new cell phone.

But of course, this could be an even larger market than installed autos. Trust me, before his contract is out, you'll be able to hear Howard over your phone.

Stay tuned.

Mary