My 05 S MT needs a battery. I've changed a number of batteries in the past without incident. Will my Mini need any specific procedures beyond the obvious? Modules need resetting or some such nonsense? I hope not. Thanks
I'm subscribing to SiriusXM for two cars, an Edge, an old Polk component receiver, and internet service. I'm not going to be specific about how much I'm paying but it's a lot. I've resisted the whole negotiation BS because I find it distasteful and I was satisfied that I was getting value. I listen a lot. For 20 years. Why? Because it was radio perfected. Nationwide. No commercials on the music channels I'm using.. Amazing variety. Being able to reliably get it on my home stereos via the internet only made it better.
I listen to SXM rather than Spotify or the rest of the canned music services because I want radio. Music chosen by humans because they think I need to hear it. Like a friend turning me on to something different. Hearing music for the first time is like oxygen for me. I rotate between multiple stations.
I'm getting less and less of the human input these days and it is making me mad. They pay these on-air personalities too much to sustain the whole service? Please. Greg Roberson's show on Deep Tracks was the ultimate in carefully curated human chosen music. Celtic Crush has been cut back to once a month after decades of devotion by Larry Kirwan and his fans. It's been a slow erosion of the original promise of radio perfected ever since the merger turned two services into just one. Not sure how that ever worked to the listener's benefit. Anti-trust? What's that?
I won't deny there's still plenty to listen to on SXM. I don't really want to live without it but there's a lot online to listen to at home. The cars are much more problematic. I don't really want to use my phone to stream it. Oher than public radio, terrestrial radio has been dead to me for 20 years.
I've gotten to the point that I feel like I'm paying more for less of what I got XM for in the first place and that's been going on for awhile. Still worth having but not for what I'm paying. They've used up my goodwill willingness to pay whatever it takes to get what I really want. I'm not getting that anymore. More for less has never worked for me.
As much as I hate it, I guess I'm going to have to play the cancel game. Turn it all off and wait to see if they can get the costs down to what the diminished service is worth to me. If they won't, so be it. The status quo no longer works. It was (still is to a degree) a unique alternative. The less unique it is, the less essential.
Right before I ended up in the Sonosphere I was ready to use Chromecast Audio. I was really inept around tech at the time and never really got it set up for various reasons but the concept was sound and the puck is as cute as a button.
I'm setting up a guest cottage/music space and I decided to use a CA rather than just another Sonos device. I'm running the S1 app for Sonos and have no real complaints but some variety is good.
When Google decided to bail on Chromecast Audio I grabbed a couple more at the meager price they were selling for so I've got a decent stash of them.
Setting it up couldn't have been easier. I'm going to use it for SiriusXM and TuneIn. Guests might have a little more luck with Chromecast than Sonos. I'll probably put a Bluetooth receiver in there too for those most comfortable with that system.
Chromecast Audio was a brilliant idea and seemingly well executed. I'm looking forward to goofing around with it. Maybe see if I can figure out multi room operation. Harmless fun.
Deep Tracks Roberson fans! Don't forget he's back on again today (Monday the 15th). I predict a whale of a show. Friday was outstanding.
I heard Earle say today that he is taking the next couple of days off and that Greg Roberson is going to cover his show. That will be fun.