A Good Thing
There's been a lot of enthusiastic talk lately both in the press and the blogosphere about podcasting--now that Noah Glass and Ev Williams are joining forces to make it a popular medium. The enthusiasm is well-founded--especially for bloggers because podcasting promises to be an audio version of blogging, among other things.
Some observers suggest that the new medium will need the support of advertising. Yes, most sophisticated, high-budget forms of podcasting will have to have it, but beyond that, I disagree totally. And I say that as an ex ad-guy.
Fortunately, I don't have to bother with writing a defense of my position because Denise Howell has done it with her usual succinct, well-reasoned, razor-sharp voice:
"The simplicity of "producing" a quickie, relatively low-tech podcast means an exponential increase in access to and distribution of specialized information. I feel exactly the same way about weblogs. Just getting the material out there is extraordinarily powerful. I don't need to have the Becker-Posner blog, for example, bear a stronger resemblance to something that is commercially supported; in fact, it's much better as far as I'm concerned if it does not. I'd feel the same way about any podcast its authors might choose to put out. Easy, cheap tools = low barrier to entry, huge numbers can do it at some baseline level of quality. This is a Good Thing, as is finding the occasional respite from the advertising that saturates our existence. (I mean, c'mon: building elevators?)"
Right on, Denise!
There's been a lot of enthusiastic talk lately both in the press and the blogosphere about podcasting--now that Noah Glass and Ev Williams are joining forces to make it a popular medium. The enthusiasm is well-founded--especially for bloggers because podcasting promises to be an audio version of blogging, among other things.
Some observers suggest that the new medium will need the support of advertising. Yes, most sophisticated, high-budget forms of podcasting will have to have it, but beyond that, I disagree totally. And I say that as an ex ad-guy.
Fortunately, I don't have to bother with writing a defense of my position because Denise Howell has done it with her usual succinct, well-reasoned, razor-sharp voice:
"The simplicity of "producing" a quickie, relatively low-tech podcast means an exponential increase in access to and distribution of specialized information. I feel exactly the same way about weblogs. Just getting the material out there is extraordinarily powerful. I don't need to have the Becker-Posner blog, for example, bear a stronger resemblance to something that is commercially supported; in fact, it's much better as far as I'm concerned if it does not. I'd feel the same way about any podcast its authors might choose to put out. Easy, cheap tools = low barrier to entry, huge numbers can do it at some baseline level of quality. This is a Good Thing, as is finding the occasional respite from the advertising that saturates our existence. (I mean, c'mon: building elevators?)"
Right on, Denise!
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home