Single Side Band or Sat Phone?

This is the question we have been wrestling with lately. This winter, we will have to decide, because I want plenty of time to learn how to use either or both, and to get the bugs out of any installation we might make.

Most everything I read touts the benefits of SSB for cruising sailboats, from email access through the use of a Pactor modem, to the social opportunities it offers via the various organized nets. For me, the real value is to access the weather reports offered up by the various WX gurus out there. My hesitation is that between the radio, the required modem and the extensive installation, the darn things become VERY expensive. And, I can't help thinking the technology is ancient by today's advanced standards.

Anyway, a friend says that he bought a Sat phone for about $1500, and a block of minutes for $60 per month. He relied on this, and went off and had a great Mexico cruise. He did confess, tho, that he got his weather info from having personal chats with sailors that had listened to their Single Side Bands that they had aboard their boats... #$%&!!!