I'm catching up with e-mail.  Even though it is a few months old, Jonathan's
essay is still worth pondering.

Kelly


    MosenExplosion.com Sunday, August 07, 2005

    Podcasting, does the Emperor have Clothes?

    By Jonathan Mosen

    Podcasting is a fascinating phenomenon, because it is not a new
technology in itself. Instead it's a very clever fusion of existing
technologies including digital recording, RSS, the web and portable MP3
players. Now that it's been conceptualised, realised and even
commercialised, it seems like such an obvious thing to have devised. But
many people thought that the future of portable media lay in streaming.
People were banking on third generation mobile networks to allow us to
consume content on mobile devices. I remember talking strategy when I
directed ACB Radio, and viewing a time that was then five years down the
track where the technology would exist for blind people to stream ACB
Radio on the bus. That's happening of course, but the abundance and
cheapness of broad band in the home means that it's easier to pull down a
lot of content, load it up onto an MP3 player and just take it with you.
Cool!

    But what happens with this technology is that a certain kind of geek
gets caught up in the coolness of the technology itself,. It becomes
almost sacrilegious to point out that a lot of the content is absolute
crap! Back in May, a brave CNet journalist made the bold statement that
podcasts blow. He's absolutely right of course, if you're looking for
content in a more traditional, well-produced, radio genre. but you can
read the howls of protest over his opinion piece from many podcasters.

    For many, podcasting is simply an extension of blogging. Some podcasts
simply allow you into the lives of the individual producing the podcast.
There's nothing flashy, often just someone talking very casually about
their life. If they do so in a compelling, entertaining way, and they
understand how to use the gift of their voice, then even a fairly
pedestrian life can be fascinating in its own way. If someone's life is
usually interesting, or they happen to be in the right place at the right
time, podcasts can be compulsive listening, such as the catholic priest
who reported from the Vatican at the time of the death of Pope John-Paul
II.

    It's become almost obligatory for any technologically hip dude to have
a podcast these days, even if you have nothing to say or your voice is
about as interesting as Dubbya is articulate. People sit down and they
say, "I think I should do a podcast". To me, this is the wrong order for
the process to take place. If you have something to say, whether that be a
hobby to share or a desire to entertain or simply to share your soul, then
that's step number one. Doing those things as a podcast is one potential
delivery mechanism. But as a rule, if you put the delivery mechanism
before the content, you're not going to succeed. And that's why, while
there are some excellent podcasts out there, you might really have to hunt
for them.

    There's something else interesting happening to podcasting at the
moment. It can be summed up in two words, monetisation, and Itunes. Some
people are damn good at this podcasting thing, and are looking for ways to
make a living out of it. One podcaster who I have supported financially,
in fact the only podcaster who I have supported financially, is Richard
Vobes and his Richard Vobes Radio show. He's taken the tried and true
shareware approach, and tried to put it in a podcast context. You can
listen to the show for a week. If you like the show, then you are asked to
do the right thing and pay $20 per year to keep listening. The only
enforcement mechanism is that he's relying on his listeners having a
conscience. Richard has a natural ability behind the microphone and has
superb audio production skills. He's also very entertaining, plain and
simple. I've paid, because he makes me laugh out loud and his audio
production inspires me. Whether he'll make enough to feed his family,
since he is now working on the podcast full time, remains to be seen.

    Others are seeking a more commercial approach to podcasts, perhaps
through the insertion of audio ads in podcast content. I'm sceptical about
how well this will work. Advertisers surely know that MP3 players have
fastforward buttons. It'd be a fairly easy mod for manufacturers to make
in their firmware to add a feature that skips forward and back by
30-second increments, like a Tivo.

    Another thing that is changing the face of podcasting is the embracing
of it by Apple in its Itunes software. This has effectively made
podcasting much more mainstream. There's a great article about the impact
of Itunes on podcasting in Business Week. With podcasting now mainstream,
obviously mainstream broadcasters will respond to market demand and make
their own content available as podcasts. The BBC has some great content
out there, and there is some public radio material in the US available as
well. And frankly, I find myself listening more to this stuff now than to
traditional podcasts, with some exceptions. I listen to a couple of the
blindness technology podcasts because it's content I can't get anywhere
else, but really there is a limited time I have to consume all this stuff!
I want well-produced content where the audio is of good quality, the
production is well done, and where I am routinely informed or entertained.
And I'm sorry, but most people don't have the skills to pull it off. As
the Business Week article points out, podcasts have been a bit like ham
radio. They've been a little clique broadcasting to one another. You can
hear this on many podcasts, where the same people always pop up or are
always mentioned. It's like a little club. But Itunes means that people
who want to really succeed at this are going to have to lift their game.

    That's not to say that every podcaster wants to make money out of this
through producing a slick, entertaining or informative presentation, and
that's fine. I think the fact that anyone can update friends, family or
just interested nosy people on their daily lives in their own voice is
worthwhile in itself. Much like blogging, you have blogs that are
essentially personal journals, and you have blogs that seek to provide an
alternative news media. Both have their place.

    One thing is clear though. Podcasting has gained critical mass
incredibly quickly. It's empowering and cool. And it will be fascinating
to watch it develop.

    http://www.mosenexplosion.com/


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