The technology for of “internet radio” has been around for well over a decade, so why is it now taking off in the form of podcasting?
Folks have dabbled in online radio for ages. Dozens—possibly hundreds—of companies have risen and fallen on the promise that it would work this time, that they’d finally get it right. They never did.
Podcasting, however, works. People love it. With the recent release of a podcast-friendly version of iTunes, what was obscure last year is now mainstream technology.
There are a few specific reasons why podcasting succeed where countless online audio ventures failed in the past, and it’s important to understand them:
- Podcasting is asynchronous. Unlike traditional radio, in which you have to tune in at a specific time to hear your favorite show, you can listen to a podcast whenever it’s convenient for you.
- People are tired of existing options. The solidification of blogging as part of global culture has broken the print/radio/television monopoly on information and commentary. People now realize that media doesn’t have to sound like NBC or The New York Times. Instead, it can be fresh, quick, insightful, and sincere. Podcasting provides a tremendous variety of entertaining and informative shows that are made with little regard for advertisers or ratings.
- Podcasting requires little effort. You don’t have to check your favorite sites each day to see if they’ve posted a new MP3. The power of RSS ( “push technology” done right) allows you to automatically track your favorite sites, and tools like Odeo allow you to automate the process of downloading the MP3s. You don’t even have to burn them to CD —just hook up your MP3 player, sync it with the most recent downloads, and you’re ready for the morning commute.
Those key factors have aligned to make podcasting the phenomenal success that it has been over the past two years.
Just because something has been done wrong for ten years doesn’t mean it can’t be done right—it only means nobody’s done it yet.
Makes you wonder what other “tried and failed” opportunities are out there waiting for someone to find the magic combination of factors that will turn it into the next revolutionary idea.
