Internet radio in my car

I upgraded to a new 3g iPhone on Monday. (I wasn’t going to upgrade from my original iPhone, but the ministry is covering the expense.) Besides pulling in data a lot faster, the new softweare version let’s me install a lot of cool new applications… like Pandora, an internet “radio station” customized to your preferences.

I have a dock and FM transmitter in my car that I use with my regular iPod. Not the best quality, but it works — my car stereo lacks the “direct input” capaiblity newer models have for iPods and other devices.

So here’s what I figured out: iPhone 3g + Pandora + ipod Dock = internet radio in my car. I’m probably not the first one to figure this out, but cruising down the highway listening to radio streaming off the internet… that was a totally new and cool experience.

I don’t think this is likely to catch on in a huge way — it works best where I have actual 3g coverage. And I doubt that AT&T’s network would support a lot of people doing this. Still, this little experience points to the  ubiquity of the internet — and my ability to use a previously desktop-only service in a whole new way.

I feel like I achieved a whole new level of geekiness.