Mobile Radio Simplified. Accessible. Relevant.

With WiFi capability users of the iPod touch will be able to wirelessly purchase and download iTunes songs to their devices. Mark Ramsey of Hear 2.0 makes a prediction about what this will mean for radio in the future. Some highlights:

==========================================

A few people had predicted that the new iPod, announced today, would include not only the hotly anticipated ability to download songs from iTunes wirelessly, but also the ability to access the iPod’s streaming stations and presumably purchase and download digital tunes as you hear them stream.

The new iPods do the former but not the latter.

That’s the bullet I’m talking about. And radio dodged it. Because if you can listen to thousands of streaming stations via WiFi on the world’s most popular mp3 player, then chances are you will. And if I’m listening to thousands of them I’m not listening to you. Unless of course you’re part of that iTunes list, in which case you have thousands of instant new competitors.

On the day something like that happens the new definition of “radio” will be “something that has nothing to do with an over-the-air radio station.”

So now the iPod is enabled to “discover” music wherever there’s a hotspot and the will to do the work.

Not quite the same as radio, but creeping ever-closer - as I have long predicted it would.

=====================================

The iPod touch will likely make waves in the radio industry as Ramsey has predicted. It’s certainly wise for broadcasters to heed this as part of a larger trend. However, it is important to note that this is limited to the portion of the population who buy the iPod touch and are thus limited to the content selection on iTunes. This may turn out to be a significant number; time will tell. But it will remain a solution limited to this device its inherent content boundaries.

Let’s not overlook the immediate relevance and need for a service that eclipses device- and software-specific solutions for radio and all things audio on demand - one that is truly universally accessible.