Adjusting the Tempo of a Song

Upcoming iPods may be able to dynamically adjust the tempo of songs. The following excerpt from the Apple patent gives a quick example:

For example, if the user selects 120 beats per minute, and the audio track has a tempo of 140 beats per minute, then the music manager 12 can decrease the tempo of the audio track 18 from 140 bpm to 120 bpm thereby matching the tempo of the audio track with the selected tempo.

Adjusting the tempo would enable your music to match up perfectly with your running tempo. Being a former musician, it annoys me when my feet movements don't quite match up with the music I'm listening to. Perhaps a new tempo-adjustment feature will fix this. We may even see a new menu on the iPod, similar to above graphic. It looks just like the volume, fast-forward, and rating controls, but would presumably adjust the tempo.

Current iPods have a similar functionality that enables audiobooks to be played at a faster or slower pace. This enables some people listen to audiobooks very quickly.