Podcasting rocks. It's an awesome way to automate the process of getting some audio onto a portable device to listen when I'm away from my computer (commute, beach, biking, etc.).
Far be it from me, a lowly "c-list" blogger, to suggest that the Podcasting name sucks, but it does. The iPod has a huge market share right now, but Apple has a tradition of f*&#ing up a good thing (just for the record I'm writing this post on a PowerBook). Is everyone afraid of pissing these guys off?
As I write this post I'm listening to a Podcast on a HP iPaq. I also have 2 other non-Apple MP3 players. The iPod is truely a work of art, but it's going to lose market share and eventually be a footnote in history. It's hard to come up with a good name for a product, so I can't totally go off on the brilliant minds behind this one, but find another name already before this lame term gets widely used.
Podcasting Links of note:
iPodder.org - Podcasting resource site.
iPodder Software and Podcast.net Directory.
If you're not happy with my list go do a Google search.
So wait, a product that took 82% of the US retail hard drive-based digital music player market in August shouldn't have technology named after it?
Its share of the overall digital music player market is fractionally under 42%. That's huge, a lot more than TiVo which has already become a verb in consumer language ("I TiVo'd The Apprentice last night"). Podcasting is essentially Audio-TiVo, and the only *real* device that has the significant amount of diskspace required to truly be an Audio-TiVo is the iPod. Period. The iPod has a booming aftermarket that is growing at an astounding pace - why not ride it's coattales?
Anything with a 42% marketshare, that level of cult following, a booming aftermarket - oh, right and the diskspace - is bound to have a great technology such as Podcasting named after it.
Is it forward thinking? Maybe not. Maybe the iPod won't last FOREVER - but then, neither will Podcasting.
Posted by: Ryan | October 12, 2004 at 05:37 PM