Why doesn't Apple offer a Bluetooth wireless headphone set for the iPod?

Apple makes a beautiful Bluetooth cordless keyboard, and a Bluetooth cordless mouse. Apple has also been the first software developer to do a really tidy and intuitive job of adding Bluetooth synchronisation to its productivity applications, iCal and Addressbook, via iSync. I own a SonyEricsson T610 mobile phone, with Bluetooth cordless headset, as well as the Apple Bluetooth cordless keyboard and mouse, and I'm a total believer.

But my new iPod comes with a set of earbuds connected to the iPod via a length of cable that twists, gets knotted, doesn't quite stretch as far as I need it to, and which will inevitably wear out long before I get tired of the iPod. Is there some technical reason why Bluetooth makes perfect sense for cordless headsets mobile phone headsets and yet isn't a good solution for cordless headphones?

I have yet to hear a knowledgable answer to that, although it may be instructive to note that mainstream manufacturers of cordless stereo headphones all seem to plump for either a radio-powered (RF) or infra-red (IR) solution. Both those solutions suffer from obvious problems: RF is subject to interference from anything with a coil and a current, and IR only works with direct line of sight, within close range.

I've owned both RF and IR headphones, and experienced these problems first-hand, as well as power-management issues that ultimately persuaded me that RF and IR cordless headphones are more trouble than they're worth. Most importantly, neither technology has an easy solution for dropping to low-power consumption mode when not in use, while maintaining a connection. Neither technology is digital, meaning reception varies greatly according to the environment, and while RF provides a high-quality signal in ideal conditions, it is also consumes quite a lot of power and burns through batteries at a frightening rate.

Bluetooth audio headphones would consume less power while not in use, while remaining connected to the iPod (or WiFi-equipped Mac playing iTunes, for that matter.) The connection would be digital. The headphones would be paired with your iPod, meaning nobody else could listen in, and you'd experience no interference from other Bluetooth iPod users in the same room.

While we're at it, what about a Bluetooth connection for synchronising the iPod with iTunes too? I don't always need to be charging my iPod, and anytime I don't have to connect a cable adds to the lifetime of the connector.

I can only assume there's some technical reason why it can't be so. Meanwhile, I soldier bravely on with a Griffin iTrip FM adaptor, which is handy for the car but a sad joke with the home stereo - way too low-fi to be any good.

Come on Apple, add some Bluetooth to the iPod!