Don't forget expensive!!! Hundreds of dollars in equipment plus $120/yr for the priviledge of listening to the radio!!![
That's a valid point, but the way I look at it is I'm gonna spend the ten bucks somewhere else, whether it's going to Wendy's or watching a movie.
I know the music on my home satellite isn't CD quality (neither are my MP3s) and they also are acclaimed as CD quality.
It's definitely an improvement over conventional radio. I compared a CD I had in the HU with the quality of XM. I'd say they were pretty close. You can't beat the variety of programming. While in some cities you can find all types of programming, here in Austin, there aren't any all news stations.