Podcasting

Attended an Apple podcasting seminar today. Software, products and services are moving so fast, the scramble is more to see which company or technology, or what philosophy, gets to lead than it is to provide products and services for the current market. Software that was cutting edge literally last week has been overshadowed by the next and next technologies that take the XML and linked metadata to the next level.

Like the original, non-commercial Internet of yore, integrating this technology into something that can be used for cash by the masses seems, to me, to be the next step. That would steal the thunder from the RealPlay industry, take personal publishing to the next level, and let subscriptions to paper magazines move to the next level of publication and revenue generation.

Interesting note: Apple is heavily toting that the TV episode content that they have managed to license is a first: until now, networks only licensed entire DVDs that were carefully packaged. Well, duh! The quality of what's being launched is, as was put by a podcasting leader: "pretty good quality if you play it on your computer and sit back a bit." Mark the words: Apple may make a mint on the video iPod, but the networks and cable channels will make a macro fortune on these micro-sales of single episodes to the new small screen.