Rex Hammock finds some time between magazine publishing and sports blogging to think deep thoughts about podcasting. His take-off point: Sept. 28 marks the one-year anniversary of a Doc Searls’ podcasting treatise “DIY radion with PODcasting” that could be seen as the start of the Podcasting Era. Searls, who suggested the acronym should be “Personal Option Digital” so it didnlt refer back to one company’s product, predicted then that a Google search he did on “podcasts” pulling up 24 responses could serve as a benchmark: “A year from now, it will pull up hundreds of thousands, or perhaps even millions.” Rex uses the new, improved Google for the one-year benchmark and comes up with more than 60 million; it’s not apples to apples given the change in indexing but the overall impression is the same. For another sign, I’ve noted recently that fewer mentions of podcasts or podcasting come with definitions.
Despite the VC money being waged and the multiplying business plans, those who see in podcasting a business model and potential Golden Goose are missing the point — and could lay eggs. From Rex: “Before the coming podcasting boom and bust, it was just a grassroots notion. Before we cycle through the inevitable macro-myopic journey of over-expectation and disappointment, I want to say once more that podcasting is going to greatly disappoint lots of people who think it’s about the money.”
The Podcasting section is sponsored by Portable Media Expo and Podcasting Conference.
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