Print Publication Says Podcasting Is a Horseless Carriage

I like to thank Steve at Micro Persuasion for pointing out MacWorld’s sensational “Is the Clock ticking on podcasting” rant. As usual, the Jennifer Berger only listened to radio ported to podcasting (KCRW, Inside Mac Radio). These are good listens, but they are not where podcasting’s future lives. They are not even an example of what’s interesting in podcasting today – for a sample of that, just skim PodcastMN.com or audio.weblogs.com.

Podcasting existing broadcast radio programs is today a convenience for radio listeners (listeners have independence from programmers schedule) tomorrow it will be the only way for broadcasts to have any relevance. Yes, if this were the future, podcasting is dead in the water. Anyone that’s hit record knows the least engaging audio is coming from existing producers. If you will, these carriage makers only now trying to leave off the horse. Like the weblogs before them, the promise comes with creating you own and sharing it with the world.

I agree with part of Berger’s closing statement:

“The answer is in the content—it has to be valuable and of high quality—and possibly even in a different format we can’t foresee now. I also think that someone or something, the iTunes Music Store or otherwise, will need to help listeners pick their podcasts.”

We do need help on what to pay attention to, this has always been a problem. Whether with movies, tv shows, websites, or people in general. We’ve always used the same solution – each other. I don’t see that changing at all.

I object to her uses of the words “valuable” and “high quality”. In this long tail world, both are far too subjective to be requirements.