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I've been hearing a lot about podcasting lately, so I stopped by Kevin Heller and Evan Schaeffer's new site Blawgcast.com to find out what happens when lawyers, digital audio and RSS collide. First, I'm happy Heller and Schaeffer didn't incorporate "pod" into their site's name. Though I work a stone's throw from Apple and appreciate their vision, their claim to the portable mp3 player is akin to Sony's claim to the portable radio/tape player -- good product, great marketing, but they didn't invent the device. Second, IANAE* but podcasting is a bloody brilliant application of RSS to digital audio. Conceptually, it is almost identical to weblogging. Instead of the "I write and broadcast, you read and comment" model of blogging, podcasting uses an "I record and broadcast, you listen and comment" arrangement. There are obvious differences, like the text vs. audio distinction. For many people, reading a blog post is much more appealing or accessible than listening to one. "Fair Enough," as businessmen say when they agree to disagree. I suspect that something like podcasting has been going on for a while under a different guise. Chris Lydon, has been doing mp3 and RSS for a couple of years now. On the technical side, audio search bots have long been trolling the web and gobbling up sound files with extensions like .mp3 or .wav. These sound files are then stored in a searchable database for perusal by audio enthusiasts. Evidently, RSS has provided an easier way to get the word out about one's audio musings. Accoding to Blawgcast.com, one AM radio station in San Francisco is already embracing the podcasting idea. It's interesting to note that the station, KYOU "Open Source Radio", is part of Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, a behemoth in the industry. At some point, I imagine wireless companies will be streaming popular podcasts as premium content to their subscribers. Or has this happened already? Rich media, round three. Adding lawyers to the audio/syndication mix is an interesting idea, especially since they're known to be a loquacious bunch. I'm beginning to see the light.
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