“Apple’s newest version of iTunes, version 4.9… now makes the process of getting a podcast on to an iPod as easy as choosing the podcast and downloading it in the same manner one might pick a song and download it to their existing iTunes library. This is bound to help podcasts become mainstream content and encourage thousands of podcasters to join the podcast revolution,” Tim Bajarin writes for Technology Pundits.
“Apple’s secret sauce, so to speak, is not only the way they make it easy to access and download a podcast through iTunes, but also comes in the way they organize and simplify how a person finds podcasts of interest. Apple’s aim, at least at first, is to only offer free podcasts and will have editorial control of the podcasts that show up on their main podcast site each day. However, they also make it very easy to find any podcast and make it simple to either listen to that podcast or subscribe to it regardless of whether the podcast is on the Apple site. That makes it very easy to add any podcast to a listener’s iTunes library,” Bajarin writes.
“Of course, Apple’s real reason for adding the podcast feature is that by having more content that can easily be added to an iPod, they also get a lot more people interested in buying iPods. And, they continue to distance themselves from their competitors. This new version of iTunes is a very positive move for podcasts and is destined to not only help Apple in their quest to maintain their mobile audio market share, but to also bring more people into the fascinating world of podcasts,” Bajarin writes.
Full article here.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Jupiter analysts: New iTunes 4.9 ‘will further cement Apple’s position as king of digital audio’ – June 28, 2005
Apple releases iTunes 4.9 for Mac and Windows with podcasting features – June 28, 2005
I am fascinated by this world of podcasts.
wow, an analyst who gets it…
Apple’s software is cool, but it is only the gravy. Apple makes money off the hardware.
Apple is a hardware company.
But, this exposes Apple to more lawsuits… Even though podcasts do not require iTunes or an iPod, people will still sue claiming Apple has a monopoly on podcasts.
Well, I couldn’t find Talk of the Nation Science Friday on iTunes Podcast listings so I found the RSS feed in Safari, dragged the link to the Podcasts playlist and it subscribed and started downloading the latest podcast right away. Nice.
What is up with the Star Wars’ laser sounds? Did Apple just buy George Lucas??
Here’s where I found the feed, BTW.
http://todmaffin.com/feeds/index.php
Please get rid of the annoying ads with sound! Some of us actually work for a living and will get in trouble! Thanks!
Apple is leaving MS way behind.
This is going to be big.
My prediction. Apple shares are going to go up by between 50% and 100% in the next 12 months.
Any more annoying sounds on MDN and you’re are out of my bookmarks…How F#@* annoying, give it up!
Not so much leaving M$ behind as much as “leading the way”. Much like that unseen boat that pulls the Go•Go’s on their skis.
Apple is shaking up an industry that’s otherwise become stagnant, and it’s good for everybody — including the Microsofts, Dells, and Creatives of the world.
To clarify, it’s good for everybody in terms of shaking major players out of their complacency, and shaking out players who are simply churning out junk to ride the coat tails of others.
I think it’s hilarious that people are bitching that “some of us actually work for a living,” yet they don’t appear to actually “work,” but browse around the internet all day while getting paid to do so.
justified,
I don’t follow the logic of your argument.
MS is going downhill. Apple is not going to lead them into new green pastures. It’s going to slowly erode their dominance – along with other firms, probably. MS reminds me of IBM before their fall in the eighties. The difference being that MS’s situation is much, much more acute than IBM’s ever was.
Nobody ‘likes’ MS. Even the people who use their products – even those who work for them!
Read the blogs!
I sincerely believe that MS’s days are numbered.
They’ve become atrophied.
Another nail in the corporate radio coffin. I no longer listen to radio since I purchased my iPod. Who needs an iPod with radio? Who wants commercials and the garbage talk? Radio is slowly dying…
MacMan,
If you don’t like commercials you had better pick your podcasts very carefully.
Charko,
You may be right. MS may tank. My only point is that as Apple gets really active, other companies in the industry have to wake from their slumber and get a move on if they want to compete in a changing market. If that’s the effect that Apple will have on other companies, then competition will increase and the industry as a whole will become active.
The Podcast feature rocks! We’re cookin’ now! Ayowwwww!
justified,
that’s true.
The Roman Empire, the British Empire, IBM, Microsoft. They all rose and fell.
And Apple will be no exception, of course.
But now they’re rising (Apple, that is), and they’ve got a good ten to twenty years ahead of them.
If you’ve got any spare dollars, or whatever currency you’re using …… INVEST IN APPLE NOW! and you’ll never regret it.
Now M$ says RSS will be all over longhorny. In two months, they’ll say longhorny will have podcast all over the place.
Where would ol’ Billy Gates be without his “R&D” department at Infinity Loop?
M$ bastards {he says in low, earthy monotone, whiling grinding teeth}
I’m so excited about this podcasting thing that I can’t find a single show in the ITMS that looks interseting enough to subscribe to!
“…I can’t find a single show in the ITMS”
What? what about Hip Tips from those Queer Eye guys? Whoever Adam Curry is? Al Franken (Al’s show may finally be heard by someone…)? Ramiro & Pebbles Jam Scams? You’re not tryin’ hard enough, man.
When the bbc really ramps up their output podcasting will be very cool. Of course the fact I have to pay for it (I don’t mind the license fee) but that the rest of the world gets radio for free is a tad irritating.
“Please get rid of the annoying ads with sound! Some of us actually work for a living and will get in trouble! Thanks!”
Well, maybe you should do your job instead…
Or at least have the sense to turn off/down the speakers.
If this takes off it’ll be interesting to see how many podcasts go down after being hammered bandwidth wise.
Also, I know that they’re all free, however the fact they are specifically labelled as such implies that paid podcasts are an option. However once you start paying for them when do they cross the line from being a podcast to being a regular itms download like an audiobook? They’re all mp3, aac etc. Would it be a way for apple to let third parties sell their products via itunes without having to actually be in the main store, and all the licensing/contracts etc that would go with it?
I think the whole podcast thing is interesting but so far there is very little content to really interest me, I have enough difficulty fittin in all the tv shows, dvds, bbc radio programmes, newspapers, rss feeds/websites and books as it is. I don’t have time to plough through too many people rambling on about stuff from their houses.