PodCasting (continued)

In my post this morning I mischaracterized what Podcasting really is. And Scott corrected me, as he should, in the comments. Since most of my readers don’t read the comments (you should!), I’ll put his comment without edit on my blog:

BIG corrections in order. Well, semi-big at least.

First, “podcasting” is not creating and delivering content for “iPod.” It’s a concept that goes a little bit like your first commentor’s take on what he’d “like to see”:

“I want to subscribe to different radio shows, and every day plug-in my audio device (in my case an iPAQ with a 1GB SD Card) and have a program that automatically downloads the content and places it on the device like a simple “sync” process. THAT is when podcasting will take off.”

Podcasting is really just the idea that a feed (RSS, Atom, whatever) has the ability to deliver not just text, but ANY audio format you choose (including torrent files, that would then be downloadid “in the background”).

Just as you “read” blogs today, you’d listen to them tomorrow.

And as far as Brian’s “nice to have,” this is EXACTLY what iPodder, Adam Curry’s little thang that has now caught on and had many variants, such as iPodderX for OSX, and other programs already do.

As far as the content goes, people ARE creating it. However, I’ve had to listen to far too many amateur hour radio shows, including Adam Curry sniffing into the mic’ “I’ve got to blow my nose!” ANd most of the content is about making podcasts — not fun.

Content aside, the idea that iTunes and Audible could deliver this interesting. They already deliver content for the iPod. Wouldn’t a “podcast” just be a file of a radio show or somebody’s broadcast? How is that different than a book on tape or a song exactly? There’s no “casting” in that. But make it an RSS feed, and this is, what I like to call, the record label of the future.

Thanks for clearing that up Scott.

#VC & Technology