Podcast

An RSS feed icon, commonly used to indicate the Web feed for a podcast

A podcast (or non-streamed webcast) is a series of digital media files (either audio or video) that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication. The word usurped webcast in common vernacular, due to rising popularity of the iPod and the innovation of web feeds.

The mode of delivery differentiates podcasting from other means of accessing media files over the Internet, such as direct download, or streamed webcasting. A list of all the audio or video files currently associated with a given series is maintained centrally on the distributor's server as a web feed, and the listener or viewer employs special client application software known as a podcatcher that can access this web feed, check it for updates, and download any new files in the series. This process can be automated so that new files are downloaded automatically. Files are stored locally on the user's computer or other device ready for offline use, giving simple and convenient access to episodic content.^[1][2] Commonly used audio file formats are Ogg Vorbis and MP3.

Academics at the Community, Journalism & Communication Research group at the University of Texas at Austin in the USA are proposing a four-part definition of a podcast: A podcast is a digital audio or video file that is episodic; downloadable; programme-driven, mainly with a host and/or theme; and convenient, usually via an automated feed with computer software.^[3]

Name

The term "podcasting" was first mentioned by Ben Hammersley in The Guardian newspaper in a February 2004 article, along with other proposed names for the new medium.^[4] It is a portmanteau of the words "pod"— "playable on demand", which was later used by Apple Computer (now Apple) for its brand of portable media player iPod—and "broadcasting".^[2] The name may be misleading, as despite the etymology it has never been necessary to use an iPod, or, indeed, any other form of portable media player, to use podcasts; the content can be accessed using any computer that can play media files.^[5] Use of the term "podcast" predates the addition of native support for podcasting to the iPod, or to Apple's iTunes software.^[6] To avoid a term suggestive of "iPod", some use the term netcast instead of podcast, such as the TWiT.tv podcaster Leo Laporte.^[7] A backronym has been posited where podcast stands for "Personal On Demand broadCAST".^[8][9][10] .

History

Podcasting began to catch hold with the public in late 2004, though during the 1998–2001 dot-com era there were multiple "podcasts" done by major companies, such as Real Networks and ESPN.com. Many individuals and groups contributed to the emergence and popularity of podcasts. Adam Curry is credited with coming up with the idea to automate the delivery and syncing of textual content to portable audio players.^[11] In 2005 The Ricky Gervais show became the most Downloaded podcast and would go on to receive the first Guinness World record for Podcasting in 2007. The show had an average of 261,670 downloads per episode during its first month.^[12]

Trademarks

The logo used by Apple to represent Podcasting

Trademark applications

On February 10, 2005, Shae Spencer Management LLC of Fairport, New York filed a trademark application to register podcast for an "online prerecorded radio program over the internet". On September 9, 2005, the United States Patent and Trademark Office rejected the application, citing Wikipedia's podcast entry as describing the history of the term. The company amended their application in March, 2006, but the USPTO rejected the amended application as not sufficiently differentiated from the original. In November, 2006, the application was marked as abandoned.^[13]

As of September 20, 2005, known trademarks that attempted to capitalize on podcast include: Podcast Realty, GuidePod, PodGizmo, Pod-Casting, MyPod, Podvertiser, Podango, ePodcast, PodCabin, Podcaster, PodcastPeople, PodShop, PodKitchen, Podgram, GodPod and Podcast.^[14] By February 2007, there had been 24 attempts to register trademarks containing the word "PODCAST" in United States, but only "PODCAST READY" from Podcast Ready, Inc. was approved. ^[15]

Apple trademark protections

On September 26, 2006, it was reported that Apple Computer started to crack down on businesses using the acronym "POD", in product and company names. Apple sent a cease-and-desist order that week to Podcast Ready, Inc., which markets an application known as "myPodder".^[16] Lawyers for Apple contended that the term "pod" has been used by the public to refer to Apple's music player so extensively that it falls under Apple's trademark cover.^[17] It was speculated that such activity was part of a bigger campaign for Apple to expand the scope of its existing iPod trademark, which included trademarking "IPODCAST", "IPOD", and "POD".^[18] On November 16, 2006, the Apple Trademark Department stated that Apple does not object to third party usage of "the generic term" "podcast" to refer to podcasting services and that Apple does not license the term. However, no statement was made whether Apple believes they hold rights to it.^[19]

See also

• Uses of podcasting
• Enhanced podcast
• Screencast
• List of podcatchers
• Video podcast
• Podcast novel
• Social media
• Streaming media
• User-generated content
• Portable media player
• Web television
• Protection of Broadcasts and Broadcasting Organizations Treaty

References

External links

• Creative Commons Podcasting Legal Guide
• iTunes Podcast Tech Spec
• Dr. Jonathan Sterne defining Narrowcasting
• Podcatcher List for Windows, Macintosh and Linux Computer Systems
• Open Source Podcast software for Joomla
• A Podcast Primer: article with theoretical/category overview of Podcasting