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Podcast Subscriptions Top One Million
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I listened to a few podcasts here and there *before* the iTunes domination, but I must say. iTunes integration is much more elegant than the other apps (maybe not as powerful).
I'm happy with them, just because it's easy.
I'm happy with them, just because it's easy.
I think the thing that makes this so big is the way it brings the aspects of radio I want to listen to, me. For example I am a pilot and like aviation stuff there is not to much of that on the radio. Pod casting brings that to me it's pretty cool.
SpaceMagic said:Mwhahaha! Apple takes over Podcasting too
If you think that there's only 3000 podcasts, 1 million subscriptions = woah
If Apple is basing their total number of podcasts just based on the list that they have now, then they need to recalculate their figures. They have tons of duplicates in their directory.
Well, they're categorizing a particular 'cast in different categories. Which is a good idea IMO.Kerry Sanders said:If Apple is basing their total number of podcasts just based on the list that they have now, then they need to recalculate their figures. They have tons of duplicates in their directory.
But I'm *positive* the number will increase in the coming weeks/months.
I dunno, it all seems like a lot of hassle. I can understand downloading podcasts with a specialist interest, but why on earth would someone want to listen to, say, yesterday's BBC news when you can hear today's online, or over the radio or TV?
Philsy said:
Exactly, but this is not really what podcasting was intended for, this is an example of a corporation just repurposing there content for a new medium.
Podcasting was 'originally' a way to syndicate home brew audio shows/content not a vehicle for the big guns.
Of course the number is huge, its FREE. People will download anything if its free. They should publish the number of free song downloads they've had. That number would be huge.
There are *far* more than 3,000 podcasts right now. Apple only claims that they list 3,000 of them though.njmac said:I predicted, since first hearing about podcasting, that it will be huge. Right now there are 3,000 podcasts. By this time next year, I will not be surprised if there are 30,000 podcasts.
Especially if someone figures out a way to make money with them
Podcasting, like blogging, is meant to be free. I hope nobody ever comes up with that scheme (unless it's me
)
I like one podcast - This Week in Tech
I thought I would try another one to see what all the fuss is about so I listened to the Dawn and Drew show. I could listen to them for all of 2 minutes. It was just so inane and annoying. How could anyone listen to that?
I'm afraid that out of one million downloads, there's maybe a dozen good ones.
I thought I would try another one to see what all the fuss is about so I listened to the Dawn and Drew show. I could listen to them for all of 2 minutes. It was just so inane and annoying. How could anyone listen to that?
I'm afraid that out of one million downloads, there's maybe a dozen good ones.
njmac said:Especially if someone figures out a way to make money with them
Simple, sell advertising. It won't be long before the more commercial podcasts feature ads.
Regardless, I am very excited to see where this technology takes us! I would be scared if I was clearchannel right now!
iAlan said:
Huh?
Do you even know what a podcast is?
It can be anything from what you describe, to a full fledged radio show. It's simply a medium for distributing an audio show... what is on that show is completely up to whomever publishes it.
You seem to have mixed up "blogs" and "podcasts". Not the same thing at all.
It can work for the same reason that weekly or monthly news magazines could sell even with daily newspapers around, or newspapers could sell even with radio and TV around. Lots of information has a lifetime a lot longer than a few minutes, and entertainment can have a shelf life of many years.Philsy said:
Podcast fad
The allure will wear off fast. Somehow I don't think podcasting will be quite the revolution everyone thinks it will. I think there are some formats that work well in this context, but most of this stuff is amateurish and I can't imagine people wasting their valuable time trying to download, manage, and listen to it all.
Most programs you will want to delete after you have listened to it once. There needs to be an easier way to do this. Imagine subscribing too dozens of podcasts and having to remember which ones you listened too and scrolling through large amounts of old shows to find the one you want. The iPod does not keep track of what you listen too and then sync it with iTunes. Now imagine trying to manually delete the ones you don't want anymore. Too much hassel.
The allure will wear off fast. Somehow I don't think podcasting will be quite the revolution everyone thinks it will. I think there are some formats that work well in this context, but most of this stuff is amateurish and I can't imagine people wasting their valuable time trying to download, manage, and listen to it all.
Most programs you will want to delete after you have listened to it once. There needs to be an easier way to do this. Imagine subscribing too dozens of podcasts and having to remember which ones you listened too and scrolling through large amounts of old shows to find the one you want. The iPod does not keep track of what you listen too and then sync it with iTunes. Now imagine trying to manually delete the ones you don't want anymore. Too much hassel.
Accepting donations
Actually that is alreay happening. At the keynote there was a slide with a list of different podcasts. On that list was Rush Limbaugh, but you won't find his podcast on iTunes. Why? Because if you want to listen to Rush you have to pay for it.
Quality content will soon become a pay subscription service like anything else; I think I heard Jobs hinting at that in an interview I just heard. Most of the amature stuff will not have a broad audiance and will remain free, but once a show reaches a certain point of interest they will charge for it and you will purchase it like any other song.
The other possibility I see are for non-profit organizations like religious radio programming for example. They could have a donate and download button and let you choose. It would be interesting to see if Apple would ever facilitate the distribution of free content but accept donations through your .mac account.
njmac said:I predicted, since first hearing about podcasting, that it will be huge. Right now there are 3,000 podcasts. By this time next year, I will not be surprised if there are 30,000 podcasts.
Especially if someone figures out a way to make money with them
Actually that is alreay happening. At the keynote there was a slide with a list of different podcasts. On that list was Rush Limbaugh, but you won't find his podcast on iTunes. Why? Because if you want to listen to Rush you have to pay for it.
Quality content will soon become a pay subscription service like anything else; I think I heard Jobs hinting at that in an interview I just heard. Most of the amature stuff will not have a broad audiance and will remain free, but once a show reaches a certain point of interest they will charge for it and you will purchase it like any other song.
The other possibility I see are for non-profit organizations like religious radio programming for example. They could have a donate and download button and let you choose. It would be interesting to see if Apple would ever facilitate the distribution of free content but accept donations through your .mac account.
Object-X said:
Huh? Have you tried it? First of all, the Podcasts playlist supports bookmarks. I've never heard audiobooks on my iPod or iTunes but I would imagine that it works the same. The track plays from the last time you were listening to it.
And you don't have to remember which ones you've listened to. iTunes has the option to either delete Podcasts you've listened to, or you can keep most recent ones, etc.
AND, when you subscribe to the Podcasts you want to hear, they are downloaded automatically as you choose to download them.
I think you are very misinformed and stating too much.
I, on the other hand, think Podcasts are great. It's a (FREE
) way of listening to shows about stuff you are really interested in. There are some who think they're just going to listen to some guy in his garage who recorded his personal thoughts of idiotic stuff, and some Podcasts probably will be like that... but, the Podcasts that I've heard are far from amateur, have very good content, and some have included interviews with professionals on different subjects. Maybe you have to choose your Podcasts right. Don't expect to download every single episode or ALL the Podcasts on one theme.I think Podcasting is going to turn into something a lot bigger and if people know about it before buying an iPod, they have one more reason to do it.
Philsy said:
Think of podcasting as Tivo-for-radio. You may want to listen to yesterday's BBC news when you are offline, or not near a radio or TV, or when you can't get that channel, or when the time it's aired is inconvenient for you.
njmac said:I predicted, since first hearing about podcasting, that it will be huge. Right now there are 3,000 podcasts. By this time next year, I will not be surprised if there are 30,000 podcasts.
Especially if someone figures out a way to make money with them
yeah, this news is stunning, and evidence that the number will skyrocket.
But, uh..... somebody's already figured out how to make money off of them. Apple. More itunes=less winamp=more itms and more ipods.
And server space is cheap, these days, though apparently, apple underestimated demand.
Also, did anyone notice? Macrumors said 1 million podcast subscribers... which must be a typo, it's gotta be one million subscriptions. I'd believe people trying out a whole bunch of podcasts b/c they're free, but one million people downloading podcasts in two days.... just a little much. Plus, if that was true, they'd say number of subscriptions, for sure, because it would be much larger.
KEXP needs to podcast their shows, as with more NPR. Just in case anyone's listening.
Here's another thought:
If Apple can put podcasts on iTunes, surely they can have a Garage Band section too. I know there are other sites out there, but I'm talking iTunes here. Major, major player now in the music world.
If there was a Garage Band section on iTunes, Millions of people will hear true indy stuff. Now, alot of that will be pure crap, but I bet a lot of jems would emerge and would be an amazing outlet for talented amatuers.
Podcasts paved the way. Garage Band for iTunes can't be too far away.
If Apple can put podcasts on iTunes, surely they can have a Garage Band section too. I know there are other sites out there, but I'm talking iTunes here. Major, major player now in the music world.
If there was a Garage Band section on iTunes, Millions of people will hear true indy stuff. Now, alot of that will be pure crap, but I bet a lot of jems would emerge and would be an amazing outlet for talented amatuers.
Podcasts paved the way. Garage Band for iTunes can't be too far away.