According to report at StorageProPortal, a team of Scottish Nanotechnology scientists claim that they can cram up to 500 Terabyte worth of data onto one square inch – putting 100 millions songs on your iPod.

Unfortunately, the Glaswegian team’s research is “in the conceptual stages” – which means that these 500 Terabyte iPods probably won’t be available until kids like DJ Ami (above) are in their teens.

As they put it themselves, “We are conceptually pushing the limits by what could be possible – making a molecular switch means that you cannot get much smaller, it starts to push at the fundamental constraints”.

The switching concept is at the root of all electronic storage devices and the Glasgow researchers have managed to get two clusters of molybdenum oxide based molecules positioned just 32nm.

These super-high capacity drives are a long ways off – but it’s interesting to consider their implications. When your iPod can store the entire history of recorded music, both radio and the idea of syncing may seem a bit pointless.