The die is podcast once Apple replaces the geeks
The process by which a technology goes from being an arcane technicality to a consumer product is always fascinating. The recent appearance of ‘podcasting’ on the radar of mainstream media is a delicious case in point.
The term is an amalgam of ‘broadcasting’ and ‘iPod’. Podcasting differs from other types of online media delivery because of its subscription model. It has been possible for aeons to publish audio files on a website, but that’s not what podcasting does. Instead it uses the RSS syndication infrastructure of the blogging world to deliver an enclosed file to a computer, whence it is then downloaded onto an MP3 player (often, but not necessarily, an Apple iPod). Podcasting enables anyone to create what are effectively self-published syndicated ‘radio programmes’ (and incidentally, also gives radio broadcasters a new distribution method). Anyone wishing to receive these programmes subscribes to the author’s syndication feed.
Read More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2005/jul/31/business.theobserver