“Ever since Steven P. Jobs returned to Apple Computer in 1997 after a 12-year absence, his company has thrived by executing the same essential formula over and over: Find an exciting new technology whose complexity and cost keep it out of the average person’s life. Streamline it, mainstream it, strip away the geeky options. Take the credit,” David Pogue writes for The New York Times.
“So far, Apple has worked this kind of magic on digital video editing, wireless networking, online music selling, R.S.S. feeds (a kind of Web site subscription) and other technologies. Its latest attempt, however, will be music to an awful lot of ears. With its release of the free iTunes 4.9 software for Mac and Windows, Apple has just mainstreamed podcasting,” Pogue writes. “A podcast, as anyone under 25 can tell you, is an audio recording posted online, much like a short radio show. (‘Podcasting’ is a pun on ‘broadcasting,’ implying, of course, that you listen to it on your iPod or another music player.) The beauty of a podcast is that it’s free and you listen to it whenever you like. And there are more than 7,000 podcasts ‘on the air’ right now, on every conceivable topic. Their quantity and variety already dwarf what you can find on regular radio.”
“Clearly, the motivation behind Apple’s podcasting program is selling more iPods. You can certainly get podcasts onto other music players, but not with the effortless, automated flow of the iTunes-iPod system,” Pogue explains. “In other words, these free podcasts are just another feather in the iPod’s cap.”
MacDailyNews Note: See John Gruber’s excellent article, “Is That a Podcast in Your Pocket?” over on DaringFireball.com for more about Apple’s foray into podcasting with iTunes 4.9.
“Not everybody is happy with Apple’s podcasting ecosystem, by the way. Geeks have griped that, unlike other podcast programs, iTunes doesn’t speed up downloads using high-tech tricks with names like ETags, compression and ‘last modified’ headers. Early podcasters complain about the growing presence of the slick corporate ‘casts, claiming that they’re ruining the grass-roots, power-to-the-people feeling of the original podcasts,” Pogue writes. “And, of course, there’s the perpetual wheel-squeaking of long-time iPod haters, who feel suffocated by the whole astonishing iPod juggernaut. They can only resent Apple’s success in bringing podcasting to the masses with its own stamp all over it.”
Pogue writes, “But all of that is whimpering in the wind. Overnight, iTunes 4.9 has already become the most popular podcast-management software on earth; Apple says that within 48 hours of its release, Pod people had subscribed to more than a million podcasts. Pockets of the populace may not enjoy the transformation of podcasting into a commercial, pop-culture phenomenon, but it’s too late now. The people have spoken – or, rather, listened.”
Full article here.
Related iPodDailyNews articles:
NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ now available as podcast – July 28, 2005
Survey reveals 87-percent of U.S. internet users don’t know meaning of term ‘podcast’ – July 22, 2005
Apple’s iTunes Music Store offers erotic podcasts that some are calling ‘porncasts’ – July 22, 2005
Fortune: podcasting is a celebration of power of the Internet – July 12, 2005
Microsoft employees squeamish about ‘podcast’ term, try using ‘blogcast’ instead – July 11, 2005
The Economist: Apple’s embrace of podcasting ‘could have significant consequences’ – July 08, 2005
Research group: U.S. podcast audience will grow to 56 million by 2010 – July 06, 2005
Firs post!!! YEAH!! Stick that in your cakehole, all you first post wannabes! STEWEY IS KING!!!!
might try decaf
Everyone in the real IT world knows that being the first post-er is excessively important, especially in a Windows environment where “get in – get out” is the operating paradign of the end user experience. Users who tend to dally along with their internet connections to read second, or if they are truly daring, third posts risk infection (what the real IT world calls “my next paycheck”). Stewey’s exuberance is only a reflection of this end-user experience, and thus he should not be excessively chastised for adapting to his 21st century Dell computing experience.
©
New York Times,Hahahahahahahahahahahaha
Unbiased reporting,hahahaha.
Veteran wire “reporter?” Helen Thomas is vowing to ‘kill herself’ if Dick Cheney announces he is running for president.
The newspaper HILL first reported the startling claim on Thursday.
MORE
“The day Dick Cheney is going to run for president, I’ll kill myself,” she told the HILL. “All we need is one more liar.”
Go right ahead, you’re almost there anyway.
ron, sell your bullshit somewhere else.
This is an AWESOME article. David Pogue is da man for this straight up honest reflection of Apple and the surrounding atmosphere. This is my favorite: “And, of course, there’s the perpetual wheel-squeaking of long-time iPod haters, who feel suffocated by the whole astonishing iPod juggernaut. They can only resent Apple’s success in bringing podcasting to the masses with its own stamp all over it.”
So true, so true…
The NYT may be a biased piece of sh*t when it comes to politics, but David Pogue is great and he tells it like it is 99% of the time.
Try listening to David’s podcast…can’t, WindowsMedia or Real only.
“…Early podcasters complain about the growing presence of the slick corporate ‘casts, claiming that they’re ruining the grass-roots, power-to-the-people feeling of the original podcasts…”
translation: the original thrown-together crap is finally being replaced by well-made, professionally developed material.
none too soon…
Ditto re “riight”‘s point that we need more professional podcasts, AND a way to separate the wheat from the chaff.
most people who complain about the Times have never read it or would need a dictionary near by when they tried. the “liberal” nyt currently have a reporter in jail covering the a** of Rove or Libby. she was also the number one pedlar of the white house lies concerning wmds in iraq. those stories were on the front page of the nyt so often that the paper was forced to apologize for the bad reporting.
go apple