Thursday
Sep272007
Don't Call It A Podcast
Thursday, September 27, 2007 at 3:21PM
I'm so sad that I can't make it to Podcast Expo this weekend due to schedule conflicts, but if I were there here's something I'd want to talk about with my fellow podcasters.
In my keynote last year I warned that the name "podcast" was a problem. Not only is the word "pod" closely associated with Apple's iPod in the minds of listeners, but I also felt, somehow, that the name itself is slightly demeaning. Now, a year later, I think I've pinpointed what made me so uneasy about the word "podcast." It's become clear to me that there is no such thing as podcasting!
Technically, a podcast is audio or video enclosed in an RSS feed. It's the RSS feed that magically turns audio or video into a podcast, but why do we focus on the RSS? You don't distinguish a blog from its RSS feed. There's no "blogcast." You talk about radio shows and TV shows, but no one who does a radio show says they do a "radio."
Podcasts don't exist separately from their content.
I create shows that are distributed on the Internet via download, Flash, and, oh yeah, RSS, but it's the show that's the thing. By focusing on the RSS we've confused people and limited our audience. Even the word I suggested last year, "netcast," doesn't serve. It's a show, period. It doesn't matter how it's distributed. It's all just content. Tying the content to its method of distribution is confusing our audience and holding us back.
Words are powerful. Using the right words about what you do is important. It helps you understand what you're up to and it helps the audience understand what you offer. The word podcasting worked for us in the beginning, but it doesn't work any more.
I am not a podcaster. I'm a journalist, a pundit, an entertainer. I create audio and video shows and distribute them over the Internet. Maybe that's YouTube, maybe it's my own web site, maybe it's via an RSS feed. The medium isn't the message - the message is the message. It's not a podcast, it's a show, and I plan to call my shows by the right name from now on.
Fellow podcasters, and podcast listeners, what do you think?
Have fun at PME this weekend. I'm with you in spirit!
(On a side note, I'm writing this in the Vancouver airport. It's not a good idea to blog while eating a Cinnabon®. I need a Handiwipe!)
tagged Podcasting in Blog
Podcasting in Blog
Reader Comments (73)
Amen Leo! But, what do you call them? What about TV shows? They'll have to start renaming them to something else...Maybe just programs? I don't know. iTunes sells TV shows, even though you may not watch them on your TV. Based on your numbers, are most of your downloads via RSS downloaders of some type? I don't know, but you definitely raise an interesting question Leo.
Amen!
I have always struggled with the word podcast but then, even after 21 years at the BBC, I still struggled with the word broadcaster.
What excites me about where we are heading is that people with good stories and the ability to tell them well are surfacing all over the web and giving the "real" broadcasters a run for their money. There are still good guys in there but they are buried under crap that has built up over years.
Whatever you call what you do Leo DON"T STOP!!
I have to agree; the term podcast is irrelevant to what you are other online producers create. What you guys do is far superior to anything done on the large TV and Radio networks.
You create online media that should be called as they are, great content.
Can we now get rid of that saying at the beginning of your shows about netcasts; it drives me crazy! haha
When I saw the title, I thought: "Oh, he's at it again with the 'netcasting'...," but I was pleasantly surprised by this excellent post, Leo.
Definitely linking to this. Great stuff, and you may have started to slightly, sort of, almost convince me that Podcast isn't a good word. Kind of.
Right, though after reading Your post I feel like saying - the name is not the message either, Leo, don't be too obsessive about it. :-)
Aren't there quite many examples of things that seem to have odd names, once You start thinking about it, and yet we use them because that is what we called them in the beginning and the name kinda stuck and now everyone knows what is meant even though it might not be the most descriptive one.
Maybe the name podcast will subside as 'shows' on the internet and the good old TV/radio will merge even more and/or become otherwise indistinguishable, but until that time please let us not agree on a new one each year. Podcast(ing) is just fine for now, I think - it's easy to remember and (as long as it's still necessary) sets it apart from traditional offerings. Because for now, there still IS a difference, You see?
Podcaster: "I produce shows."
Average Joe: "Really? What network?"
Podcaster: "Ah, no, on the internet."
Average Joe: "Oh, I see..."
I'm pretty sure that when there is no more differentiation to be made, the name podcast will fly off into obsolescence and take its rightful place somewhere on Wikipedia.a
[...] Laporte explains why we shouldn’t call it “podcasting.” Incredibly insightful post about a subject that I’d once dismissed as trivial. I’m [...]
Check my emails, my post on Jaiku, my blogs, my post in Pownce. I still call it netcasting. I know this doesn't address the issue of no one taking this media seriously, but it sounds better than "narrow casting". Feedcast? RSS Shows? The RSS? IRS (for internet relay shows... no strike that. I dunno.
I think the word Podcast will wind up being the catch word of "internet hobby broadcasters " who put out their shows, only wishing to express whatever subject they are passionate about with no intent to "monetise or being discovered"
Completely agree! Many many "podcasts", video and audio, are better in quality, content, production, and entertainment value than their traditional media counterparts. I have moved almost exclusively from traditional media to net-based media and I've found it to be a HUGE improvement. If we could only get sports onboard somehow, I'd be set...
Is it possible to receive a virus through a Podcast? I think I got one today--I was listening to this Tuesday Night Tech podcast and all of a sudden my iPhone restarted itself and now all my 3rd-party apps are GONE from the phone. It also doesn't work with t-Mobile anymore for some reason. Damn podcast viruses.
I confess, I thought I had to have an iPod to get podcasts before I got one. The name is definetly limiting potential audience for anyone doing it.
leocast...
It's 'podcast' and it will probably always be 'podcast'.
Renaming it would be like trying to get everyone in the US to call Q-Tips, "cotton swabs." You've decided to call them netcasts in hopes to separate the content from incorrect belief that you needed an iPod in order to listen; that obviously never caught on. Podcast just stuck, just like 'google' is now used to mean 'search.'
Leo, I agree. But I think it is too late. I believe we can only slowly change the definition of podcast to include all media at this point until broadcast television networks are calling their one hour dramas during primetime and the evening news podcasts. And Major motion picture releases are called podcasts.
"Hey did you see the new James Bond podcast? Great special effects, huh? Katie Couric talked about it on the CBS evening podcast. My girlfriend left me a podcast about it on my voice mail."
I agree with the sentiment Leo, but unfortunately "netcast" sounds plain and uninteresting - and means something entirely different if you live in a coastal region. Due to the association with the iPod, Podcast tells me that I'm dealing with audio or video and has a zippy ring to it, at least in my mind. For better or worse, the term podcast is so ingrained in 'net lingo that I'm afraid it's not likely to go away anytime soon.
I'm in the process of starting up a {net,pod}cast of my own, and haven't been able to decide which term to use. I'll likely go with podcast because in my experience it's a very recognizable term (used to work at an Apple reseller and most of the "switchers" that came in had heard of podcasts, but usually stared blankly at me if I referred to netcasts - go figure).
Hrm. What else could they be called? Webcasts reminds me of "webinars" (another term I despise!) ... prodcast? Filmed in Net-o-vision? ;)
I agree with Leo. The word "podcast " can be very confusing to the masses out there who aren't very tech savvy. The word itself suggests that you need an ipod to listen. Which is exactly what I believed till about 6 months ago, and I should have known better. It'd be much less confusing if they were called exactly what they are... "internet talk shows" or "internet video shows" I know that isn't very catchy but the casual net user would be much more likely to at least check it out.
You've just nailed it Leo -plain and simple. Everyone from my 4 y/o to my grandfather-in-law in southern Greece surf the net, but when I mention podcast, even highly trained scientists that I work with go: "huh?". Then I have to explain RSS etc... I can't take it anymore, it's a pain and also the barrier you mention.
It will always be about the content. People will seek out good content. And as the big network content producers flood the net, it is up to networks like TWiT.TV and Revision3 to keep up the quality, and see it as a challenge to produce the best shows. I'll try to do my part!
I was having a similiar discussion with a fellow podcaster a few weeks ago during recording of our PhotoGeek podcast. He wanted to do a show about audio techniques using video "how to's". Since we were doing an audio podcast about photography I suggested a podcast about video that with just do with photographs.
Then came the idea that we just write text and call it a "TYPECAST".
So web pages should all now be called Typecasts...
Keep up the good work Leo.
I've always had a hard time explaining what a podcast is to people who are unaware.
I end up saying something like "..it's a radio or TV show you get on the computer".
It's a Show!
Leo,
I wholeheartedly agree with you on this. I co-host a podcast with a few friends of mine and using the word "podcast" to describe it have confused people which are less literate than us.
I really liked your idea of calling it a netcast, but as you've pointed it out, we shouldn't confuse the distribution method with the content.
I hope that more podcasters take note of this reality and do something to change this. Putting less emphasis on the word "podcast" might be a good start.
Keep up the great work,
You're a genius!
Sincerely,
Paulius
I attended PodCamp SoCal today, and they kept referring to podcast as the P-word. I almost never use that term as it always generates the lassie head-tilt to whoever I say it to.
I don't podcast either. I make a show!
Leo,
I think you have a good point in that outside the "tech"community, the term is not well understood. This leads to a very large general audience not wanting to tune in because they think podcasts are just too "techie". Both in terms of topic and in terms of how to "receive" them. Of course, TV shows are named for the device that they are watched on. I think we need something to differentiate audio vs video to start with. I think Video Show (or Video Program) or Audio Show (or Audio Program) is what's needed. Either that or some cool new synonym of Video Program or Audio Program. Hence, "This Week in Tech Audio Show" or "MacBreak Weekly Video Show". I think a key goal needs to be the elimination of any reference to the medium used to distribute or watch (or listen to) the program. We should concentrate on "Media Neutrality". So as not to alienate half the potential listeners before you even tell them the subject of the program.
Dave.
Ohh, I got it!
Video Content - Videshow
Audio Content - Audishow
Up until this moment I've never really thought about it too much. I remember when you and the fellow twitters commented on it a while back but it really didn't sink in. As a person of technology I rarely think of such small things since I'm usually so open to everything that is new. This is a problem with most in the tech field, since we cannot relate to those on the other side. Relating to everyday Joe, is a hard task and this is a good way of tearing down that barrier.
I fully support this idea and hope that if you do get this to change, that the trend will carry on to other mediums.