Vacuum tubes had (and have latency.) XM/Sirius plays in a second or two in my experience. Our WYSL stream, and those of our competitors, start playing almost immediately if you're not trying to listen on a Commodore 64. The point here is, whether or not the receiving device responds in annoyance-free fashion to the human input.
In my book, punching the ON button on your common-as-hens-teeth HD Radio - and having it ruminate for ten or twelve seconds while the display reads, STARTING RADIO, is likely to provoke an impatient response from would-be users. It's kind of like waiting for those incredibly annoying CFLs to light up a room. Especially here in the Great White North when you walk into a cool room in the winter to retrieve something and have to wait a full two minutes for the stupid government light bulbs to come up to operating temp. I wind up either leaving lights on unnecessarily or carry my Star Railroad Inspector's flashlight around.
In my book, punching the ON button on your common-as-hens-teeth HD Radio - and having it ruminate for ten or twelve seconds while the display reads, STARTING RADIO, is likely to provoke an impatient response from would-be users. It's kind of like waiting for those incredibly annoying CFLs to light up a room. Especially here in the Great White North when you walk into a cool room in the winter to retrieve something and have to wait a full two minutes for the stupid government light bulbs to come up to operating temp. I wind up either leaving lights on unnecessarily or carry my Star Railroad Inspector's flashlight around.