ABC News’ “Shuffle” (brain candy for your iPod) by Jake Tapper has interviewed Apple CEO Steve Jobs and posted, appropriately enough, a podcast MP3 of the interview.
Asked why podcasts from Apple iTunes Music Store are free, Jobs said, “Well, you know, podcasting— has been free since the beginning. It’s been an emerging phenomenon that— has been, you know, growing very rapidly. But we’re hoping to take it mainstream with— the latest version of iTunes, which has everything you need to podcast built right in it. So— podcasts I think they’re gonna remain free. Although I do think we may— start to see some advertising tagged onto them— you know, in the coming months.”
Regarding Apple’s dual focus on both the Macintosh platform and the iPod, Jobs said, “Well, you know, all I can say is that our Macintosh computer sales are growing at— you know, three to four times the rate of the rest of the industry. And— we continue to be the leader in innovation. I think everybody’s copying us. So— you know, we’re working really hard to make the best personal computers in the world. And we’re working very hard to make the best portable digital music players in the world. And I think both are very important to us.”
The full text of the interview and the link to the MP3 audio are available here.