podcast trend
Podcasting has all the ingredients to become a big tech trend. Podcasting started off with little fanfare, but it has the potential to become a giant wave due to a number of factors working in its favour. The word Podcast could have been roughly derived from iPod and streaming (it sure sounds like that to me, so don’t knock me if I’m wrong!).
The process works much like radio, except that the broadcast is via mobile devices and the power of content delivery is over the Internet. This new form of information transmission opens up enormous opportunities for the dissemination of information, entertainment and news.
Podcasting is a fairly new technology and people are building sophisticated applications to use this medium effectively. The advantages of Podcasting make the proposition attractive enough for major companies to consider it as a serious mode of communication. RSS 2.0 is the mode of choice for podcasts and new versions of this feed system are expected soon.
The inherent advantages of podcasts are:
No need to invest in a new piece of hardware – podcasts are readily available to all users of iPods and similar mobile devices. The size of the iPod cult, if I can call it that, is growing at a dizzying pace. All a user needs to do is choose the subscriptions they would like to subscribe to and download the programs.
New live radio show rental: Radio shows have been revived by the new generation of podcasters. A number of old radio shows that have had huge followings in their heyday are now being evaluated for broadcast via podcasts. A lot of high-quality content is available thanks to this revival.
Can advertisers be far away? Advertisers have the ability to identify new advertising opportunities at the slightest whiff and Podcasting forums are already working hard to bring the advertising industry hand in hand with the Podcasting community. The influx of advertising dollars will give Podcasting more credibility and this medium will also be taken more seriously.
On-Demand Streaming: Podcasters and listeners rule this medium by offering high-end on-demand listening. You can use this service anytime you want, much like video on demand, but it is more successful due to low bandwidth demand. This is probably one of the biggest advantages of Podcasting and could be the main reason why it is so phenomenally successful.
Your own Podcast studio and very little investment: So who are the podcasters? A podcaster can be anyone with internet access, a decent computer, and some software knowledge. Podcasting requires very little investment in hardware and software. This advantage of Podcasting can be done by almost anyone who is interested in it and has some content to share with the rest of the world.
Creativity is highly rewarded in the world of podcasters – content is king and high-quality creative content is instantly rewarded by the Podcasting community, which can be measured by the number of subscribers. Therefore, it is very easy to achieve overnight success if the content of the broadcast is unique and exciting.
Therefore, podcasting has a number of benefits for both the internal and external community. A unique communication medium that does not cost much to distribute and develop content. Like all new technologies, the technology will have some teething problems, but the driving force behind it should be good enough for the technology to grow successfully in the very near future.