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If you want a one hour summary, take a listen to our most recent audiobook at http://www.developeradvantage.com/products.html . It's free for now.

The audio industry as a whole has exploded, everything from iPods to audiobooks, like the ones for software developers which we are working on http://www.developeradvantage.com/

As founder of http://www.developeradvantage.com/ I may be a bit biased, but anything with audio is hot right now. The basic infrastructure is in place and growing, iPods rule, and satellite radio is taking off (Howard Stern recently moved there). This is a great way for Google to acquire people with expertise in the audio medium.

Also, I believe their targetted ads fit very well with the radio medium. They know what content is being played, at least what type of content, so they can easily provide complimentary ads. Also, with satellite radio, the stations will only get more specialized, making it easier for Google to provide relevant ads.

Although the article is well written and an easy read, there is actually little factual information as to why the author does not like Web 2.0 or doesn't think it is an advance in technology. Although I tend to agree with the article, I don't think it contributes much in terms of intelligent discussion.

I think over the next few years the real progress will be in the following key areas:
1. Content
2. Producer/consumer gap
3. Location independence

First, with respect to content, much of the web is dominated by what could be called amateur content. How many more podcasts do I have to listen to where every second word is uhm... and aww.... You can really tell most of them were simply recorded in a hour or two, received little or no editing, and then were hastily uploaded to the nearest server as fast as possible. There is something to be said about everyone having the ability to put content on the internet. But, there is also something to be said about the value of content developed by professionals. I think over time we will see higher quality content and there will be better mechanisms to sort out the signal from the noise. As an example of at least improved due diligence, we have sent out over 70 review copies of a recent product. http://www.developeradvantage.com/

Second, the producer/consumer gap. Surprisingly, there is still a significant gap between the producers and consumers, which I would expect to shrink. This gap is filled with people skimming off profit or passing on cost when really they don't need to be involved. It is interesting that I think some of the most successful internet companies are not directly producers (say of content) but really are simply in the middle. Think about amazon.com or ebay or even google. Should people be buying directly from amazon or directly from the publisher or why not directly from the author? Historically, editing and distribution were huge advantages of going through a publisher, but, now with the Internet, distribution should be much more simple and often online communities, private or public, function as extremely thorough editors and reviewers. So what is the benefit of having all these people in the middle? We know they add to the cost, how do they help in terms of benefits?

Third, location independence. Arguably the most successful physical product in the last couple years has been the iPod. What does the iPod give you? Well, really it means that you can take the equivalent of boxes and boxes and boxes (depending upon the size of your box), and listen to them where ever you go. The iPod gives your music location independence. I can see something similar happening with video, but I don't think it will be as successful. There are biological limitations to how much an individual can do at one time. Audio is attractive while "on the go" but it remains to be seen if video will also be successful. I don't think natural selection will be kind to those who exceed the biological limits on what they can do at what time.

If you are looking for audiobooks for software developers, take a look at our site at http://www.developeradvantage.com/.

We have two MP3 audiobooks currently available, one on Java and the second on J2EE Patterns. An Ajax one is on its way.

You can not get technical content like ours on amazon.com or audible.com.

I cancelled one of my subscriptions for an audiobook service because they would not make downloads available in an MP3 format.

We are developing audiobooks for software developers (see http://www.developeradvantage.com/products.html) which are released as MP3 files - simple and easy to use!

The media industry (including online and offline publishers and to some extent the writers themselves), have simply found out that, at this particular stage of java's evolution, attacking java simply sells better than saying something positive about it. Attacking java attracts more eyeballs, gets more postings in response and basically generates higher revenue.

It will be interesting to see how much of a self-fulfilling prophecy these predictions on java's decline become.

As a simple test, I have given this posting a very negative subject. If you read this posting, please visit my website http://www.developeradvantage.com/. Within a day, I will review my website traffic and post a reply with some quantitative indicator of the increase in traffic.

Will google index other types of audio content with their music service (say like audiobooks or audio training)?

For example, I am currently working on http://www.developeradvantage.com/, which is creating audio training modules specifically for software developers. So far, there is really nothing else out there in terms of professional, high-quality audio training modules. On amazon.com, you can find over 2000 Java books, but, if you search for audio content, you will find zero results that are technical java books (maybe a few on indonesia though). Same with audible.com, they have no technical content for software developers.

It would be great if I could go to a search engine, type in, say Java, and find some great training modules to listen to while exercising or commuting to work (or perhaps even while working on other stuff at my desk!).

In my spare time, I am working on developing audio training modules for developers/programmers:

http://www.developeradvantage.com/products.html

I only have one finished, but expect to roll out a few more by the end of the year.