10 Megabytes
After installing the iPhone 2.2 update, and spending a whole 15 minutes playing with the new podcast downloading features, I went out for the night. And it so happened that I felt like listening to a podcast on the bus.
You know the drill. Check your iPhone podcast folder: empty.
That’s okay, I can just download a new podcast. Wow, this feature is already coming in handy…
“This item is over 10MB. You must connect to a Wi-Fi network or use iTunes on your computer to download this item.”
It seems that every time a company tries to do something new and exciting over the Internet, there are self-imposed limitations in place because of an ISP/cell phone company. The trick in offering “unlimited” bandwidth is that it’s extremely marketable, and they know you’ll never reach the top. Then again, they didn’t expect you to be downloading 150MB podcasts from your phone.
The 10MB cap for the AppStore is workable. Most non-gaming apps that I need to download on the go are under 10MB. But podcasts are different. Even an hour-long audio podcast is 30MB+, rendering iPhone podcast downloads next to useless over 3G.
But there’s a workaround—streaming. And while it may sound like a less than ideal solution, the way it’s been implemented makes you wonder if Apple deliberately made it this easy to get around the cell carriers arbitrary limitations.
On a 3G connection with two to three bars, streaming starts instantly. Not only that, but you can quit Mobile iTunes and continue working on the phone or browsing the web while listening to a streaming audio podcast. It just runs in the background, and doesn’t even take a noticeable hit on performance.
Most surprising though, was when I walked onto the underground subway. I took my seat and continued to listen intently to the episode of This Week in Media. What?! I pulled out my phone and checked to see if I had any service. None.
Apparently, the iPhone was able to buffer enough of the podcast to allow me a seamless switch between the bus and the subway. Between 3G, Edge, and no service.
Why would a cell carrier allow me to stream a large podcast, but not download it? The same bandwidth is being used, if not more if I decide to re-stream it at a later date.
It feels like local performance, when it’s really just streaming. And then it dawned on me: I have every single podcast in the iTunes directory available to me with the click of a button. My iPhone just changed from a 16GB iPod to a limitless portal to whatever form of information I so desire to listen to.
Nice try cell carriers, but I think Apple outsmarted you on this one.
UPDATE: Shawn notes that the obvious downside to streaming is that it isn’t controlled by the iPod app, meaning that you can’t double-tap the home button or use the niffty earbud remote to pause and play the stream.
