"It's the programming, stupid!"

[Sid Schweiger]

"I think the absence of such a development indicates that people in the industry are not thinking about the problem and are simply parroting old-wives' tales that became the conventional wisdom a generation or more ago."

No, they're not thinking about it, but not for the reason you cite.  They're not thinking about it because it's not on their users' radar.  Their users don't listen to AM radio at all, ever, so there's no reason for a manufacturer to even consider putting AM radio in such a device.  The old joke about "ancient modulation" was never more true than it is now.

Sid Schweiger
IT Manager, Entercom New England
20 Guest St / 3d Floor
Brighton MA  02135-2040