“In one of the shortest trajectories yet for a new Internet technology, podcasting has gone from the hands of indie developers to media giants in less than a year. Credit Apple. With typical finesse, it has created a centralized, easy-to-use service on iTunes that makes it a snap to find and listen to podcasts, the audio recordings that can be downloaded from the Net and played on a computer or portable music player. Apple also put out a new version of the iTunes software, which makes it easy for people to create their own podcasts, and invited all to post their creations on the site. Indie podcasters… rejoiced, ready for the mainstream to embrace the technology they had championed,” Heather Green reports for BusinessWeek.
Green reports, “But the reality isn’t so simple. Apple’s service, though just over a month old, is already changing the dynamics of the field. It has helped legitimize the medium, drawing traditional giants, from Ebert & Roeper parent Walt Disney to Dow Jones and News Corp. As they join iTunes, they’re squeezing out many of the do-it-yourselfers who evangelized podcasting. Once a podcast drops off the top 100 list, it’s almost impossible for a casual visitor to find it,” Green reports. “None can touch Apple today. As companies vie to create the primary site for podcasts, Apple has a huge edge because of the dominance of iTunes and the iPod. But rivals are developing sites that go beyond simple top 100 lists.”
Full article here.
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