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June 13, 2005
Should We Care About Misuse of the Term "Podcast"?
Now that Steve Jobs has called podcasting "the hottest thing in radio," it's understandable why everyone wants to refer to their audio content as a "podcast," even when it's simply not true.
At a minimum, podcasting means that the content is available via an RSS feed and can be downloaded automatically with software like iPodder X. It doesn't include content, however unique and valuable, that's merely saved as an mp3. An example is the content offered in the "CLE Programs to Go" page of Santa Clara County Bar Association. Though the SCCBA calls its downloads "podcasts," they're not: there is no RSS feed and each audio file must be manually downloaded.
Calling such content "podcasts" is confusing and leads other well-intentioned bloggers to spread the confusion in posts like these: "Podcasting as CLE: From theory to practice" and "Podcasts for CLE is a reality."
Posted by Evan Schaeffer at June 13, 2005 11:32 AM
Comments
Worse than that... the term itself, 'podcast' applies to any content that ends up as an MP3 somewhere... good or bad.
Posted by: Scott Hess at June 16, 2005 08:55 PM
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