I’d finished rehearsal with my band and contemplated the hour-plus drive home. I’d neglected to pack my iPhone with the podcast episodes I usually reserve for these drives. While grumbling about my lack of forethought, it suddenly dawned on me. Within my grasp were:

What on earth was I worried about? I had access to nearly anything I wanted to listen to.

And with that I jacked the iPhone into the car’s stereo, launched Rhapsody, tapped the Rhapsody Radio entry, tapped Artist Stations, and in the resulting screen entered . Within a few seconds I was listening to Mary Chapin Carpenter’s “10,000 Miles.” And all the way home, related music poured from my car’s speakers.

I had a similar experience last summer—long road trip with the family, desire to listen to a San Francisco Giants baseball game, and an AM signal that fizzled out in the second inning. The solution was similar: I pulled over, jacked in the iPhone, fired up the , tuned into KNBR’s broadcast, and we were on our way. Again, thanks to solid 3G along the highway, we didn’t miss a pitch. Had the Giants gotten on base more than three times, the experience would have been perfect.

The miracle is, of course, media in the ether. As long as you have the connection—which, along major highways in my area, is completely common—and can absorb the data hit, you have the kind of audio access that would have been impossible just a few years ago.