Podcasting: Viewed Askew

Here's an interesting article on the history and future of Podcasting. I think, though, that there are definitely some things in here I don't agree with.. From what I know, and that's only a little, Al Gore invented the Internet. It's true. He did.

So, was Podcasting invented a year and a half ago? I don't think so. I think the term was coined a year and a half ago. There have been typical radio shows on the internet, and just because you didn't listen to them on your iPod, hence podcasting, does not mean they weren't just that. Amateur radio, for that matter, has been on the internet for a long time. Sound bytes -- again, same thing. So why, then, does Al Gore get all the glory of the Internet? That's a pretty good question.

"These are heady days for wannabe radio stars. Only 17 months old, podcasting -- the technology that makes it easy for people to post audio recordings on the Web -- is stirring the creative juices of individuals around the world who are eager to dish up shows on everything from yoga to Nascar. Though it's difficult to track how many podcasts there are, Apple's iTunes alone lists 20,000 shows. And the number is expected to rise."

Of the 20,000 shows, or so, I would have to say more than half of them are because of Dawn and Drew. Does that mean they invented Podcasting? I don't think so. They heard of it from someone and thought they'd give it a try. Their pretty darn good at it too, in case you were wondering.

According to Wikipedia, that all-knowing site... Ah heck, I was going to type it out. I'll just paste it, so much easier.

"By 2003, web radio had existed for a decade, digital audio players had been on the market for several years, blogs and broadcasters frequently published MP3 audio online, and RSS file formats were widely used for summarizing or syndicating Web content."

So web radio had been around for a long time. The only thing missing from the invention of "iPod Broadcasting" was the enclosure of media in RSS feeds. Well, enter Dave Winer. The genius. Somehow, Mr. Winer gets screwed everytime he invents something. I've heard his podcast, and it's interesting to hear him talk about the way things have been ripped from his grasp and mutilated as soon as they become popular. Anyway, Winer invents the Enclosure Tag. I huge step.

And then at the first BloggerCon this happens --

"At the first Harvard BloggerCon conference, October 4-October 5, 2003, Kevin Marks demonstrated a script to download RSS enclosures to iTunes and synchronise them onto an iPod[6], something Adam Curry had been doing with Radio Userland and Applescript."

As you can see, Curry's name pops up again. And, ladies and gentlemen, if you look to your left, you'll see Gore! Oh wait, that was just a bush. So I bring up Gore and Curry because I think the real innovator of what we now know as Podcasting was not Curry, but Winer. A little help from Kevin Marks and Adam Curry, but mostly Winer. And where is he when a discussion happens about the history of podcasting? No where. He's left out. Adam Curry is given all the credit. The Podfather invented it all.

Now, I don't want to sound like I'm bagging on Curry. There's so many good things about him, as long as you can past the hair. ;) As you can plainly see above, he'd been doing pretty much the same thing with Applescript beforehand. And don't forget about what he's done since then, either. He has never, from what I've heard on Daily Source Code, heard him claim to have invented Podcasting. He isn't trying to take the glory, it's being handed to him because he's the one doing all the legwork. Curry has promoted podcasting in such a way that it's come from a hobby for some to a hobby for many and a job for others. Where will he help to bring it next? Well, with Podshow and the PodSafe Network, you just never know.

Which makes me think... Where has Dave Winer been through all of the last 17 months? He just never gets any attention after the initial launch of his ideas. Maybe that'll be the next step in my wanderings.