This is my reply to Derek Lakin on his post about Podcasting.
Dont confuse the content with the concept!
I think its a shame that Podcasting is continually compared to blogs, because the scope of podcasting is much larger. Most people have nothing interesting to say, thus, giving the tools to the masses, may they be blogging tools, may they be a microphone, the result is a majority of drivel.
The crux of podcasting is its time-shifted nature. This concept is of course not new, quite a few public and amateur radio stations, amungs other things, have publicized their content as downloadable mp3. The same can be said for audio-blogs.. if you copy an MP3 of a radio show to your Ipod.. guess what.. its time shifted radio. Therefor I like the comparison to TIVO, from a technological standpoint at least.
MP3 players have been around for a little while now, and if you wanted to listen to audio-blogs or other downloaded audio content of the non-music variety on the move, in your car or wherever, you have been able to do that.
So let us make it clear for now that although this new podcasting scene has certainly spawned a large amount of new amateur radio shows, podcasting applies to ANY radio-like audio content.
What makes podcasting different is the transport method, Like Dave Winer explains. you can subscibe to a podcast. This is a major departure from how you would normally start to 'consume' audio content. Until people started sticking URL's to MP3 files in RSS Enclosure tags, you had to visit a site, and download the mp3 manually. P2P provices more automation than a simple download link, but how can you tell Kazaa to download the latest edition of a talkshow-mp3 every week, once its released?
Downloading and listening to non-music audio is not new.
Listening to audio on the move is not new.
Subscribing to an RSS feed is not new.
Amateur Radio is not new.
Time Shifted radio is not new. (though it was relatively rare).
Syncronizing content automaticly to a mobile device is not new.
OPML directories.. oke.. Directories .. are not new.
But all of the above concepts have never quite been combined in this way. And THAT makes the difference.
- Before all of these things came together, it was almost impossible for a person alone to produce a 'radio show' that would recieve any kind of serious listenership.
- Before all these things came together, you could have a million dollar commercial radio show, enjoying a large listenership, both over airwaves aswell as via streaming audio, but you where missing out on everyone that wasn't tuning in right at that moment, or too lazy to go to your site and download the show as an MP3, if you had one at all. The passive vs Active argument of RSS applies here.
- Before all these things came together, you could not in any way have the audio content come to you, instead of having to put the effort in and go and download the file manually. Again.. there is a reason that RSS and syndication in general is popular.
- Before all these things came together, I could not pick up my PDA out of its cradle, with all my favorite audio content already on it, without my having to have done anything more than to subscribe to the feed, a one-time action, perhaps months ago.
Because this method of automatic distribution is now open to ALL, as apposed to the airwaves, which are completely and utterly closed off to anyone with less than some serious money and connections. Money is now no longer a barrier for entrance, anyone can register their podcasts with one or all of the many podcast directories springing up all over the place. Individuals can now actively compete with commercial radio on this new playing field.
Commercial radio has, however, on the whole, not really caught on yet. (there are some notable exeptions)
Thus, the current podosphere is dominated by relatively low-quality amateur productions with highly variable content.
Print | posted on Friday, December 10, 2004 2:28 PM