quick, somebody build a new datacenter to store podcasts ...
I could seriously have sat there all day (and the next, and the next and all weekend) listening, what a great show!
Though, I do have a few questions about the issues you raised with Bluetooth:
I am curious, what's your source on Apple not allowing A2DP (stereo audio) streaming from the iPhone? Because if I remember correctly, that's been available since at least iOS 2.0/iPhone 3G debuted in 2008. The original iPhone came out in June of 2007, however Apple had already gone DRM free on all their music in April of that year so I can't really see them being concerned with somebody ripping a stream when the music is already available DRM free in 256Kbps AAC.
(Not to mention the fact that Bluetooth supports SCMT for the streaming of DRM secured audio.)
Stereo audio quality over Bluetooth can be quite good, as AVDTP is just a transport protocol and can encapsulate everything from MP3 to AAC and beyond. If you use something like APT-X it's basically impossible to tell the difference between a wired connection and for most OEM car audio systems the default SBC codec is actually quite good!
As for battery life, I have a BT (2.1) keyboard here that's at least 5 years old. I get about a year on a set of two AA batteries. Maybe 3 months on the mouse. Considering I don't have a tiny dongle to use that also takes up a USB port, I feel like I can live with dropping a set of rechargeable batteries in every now and then. (That figure will also drastically increase for newer BT4 devices!)
Bluetooth is alive and well and not dying out anytime soon. Headset + Stereo Audio streaming is here to stay and BT4 (Bluetooth Low Energy) is the future of low-speed device interconnects mainly because of the traction they already have with Wireless Human Interface Devices like mice and keyboards.
That little fruit company in Cupertino is pushing it as *the* way to connect third-party gizmos and gadgets to iOS devices (without having to go through their certification process like you would using a Lightning Cable). They've even recently released an API (as part of iOS 7) and protocol to allow actual BT4 gamepads with real analog sticks and lots of buttons to work in iOS games, which is pretty rad.
Speaking of gamepads, all the last generation consoles (Wii, PS3 and 360) all used BT controllers; the current generation Wii U uses a combination of WiFi, BT4 and NFC while the upcoming PS4 will only have BT2.1. Curiously, the Xbox One seems to lack BT altogether in favor of WiFi Direct, which seems like an odd choice, but this is Microsoft we're talking about so...
Anyway, I didn't mean to write an essay on Bluetooth! Just my take.