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iTunes 4.9 To Support Podcasting

Posted by Hemos on from the well-of-course-it-will dept.

WaRrK writes "O'Reilly Radar are reporting that in a demo at D: All Things Digital Conference, Steve Jobs showed off iTunes 4.9, which has support for iPodder like functionality. Although, he was "slightly" dismissive of the phenomena, describing it as "Wayne's World for radio". Also, whilst currently only supporting free content, they are not ruling out paid for podcasting in the future. iTunes 4.9 should be available within 60 days." Yeah, Steve's kinda right on this - podcasting is neat & all, but the breathy overstatement of how it will change our lives is a wee bit overdone.

1 of 352 comments (clear)

  1. Another person doesn't get it by AvantLegion · · Score: 0, Redundant
    Podcasting is not about listening to podcasts from random people.

    Podcasting is about listening to "free" (as in beer) radio content without being restrained by the 50-200 mile limit of AM & FM radio.

    I live in Fresno, CA. I listen to a metal radio show from an FM radio station in Cleveland. I listen to an electronic/downtempo/ambient show from an FM radio station in Sydney, Australia. I listen to a 5-minute tech mini-show on American Public Media that, even if I knew where it was broadcast on my radio spectrum, how likely would I be to regularly "hit" the 5 minute show if I'm not going to listen to the rest of what the station plays? I listen to Leo Laporte's radio show from Los Angeles (which, despite the fact that I'm half a thumbnail away from LA on a world map, I can not receive the broadcast through normal radio means).

    I have a SIRIUS radio in my car, but the breadth of content that I can get from podcasts completely dwarfs SIRIUS's offerings. Which isn't a slag on SIRIUS - it just can't hope to compete with the range of niche content that the Internet allows.

    Podcasting didn't invent Internet radio, but it is in the process of perfecting it. I am listening to content that was not available to me through convenient means before. Shows that are broadcast beyond my tiny slice of the world are now being put online, letting me choose from stuff totally unavailable to me before. Other shows that existed online but were usually available at scheduled times in a stream are now more often being offered in podcasts for listening to on my time, not theirs. Since I can't get streaming radio in my car, some of these streaming stations put together weekly podcast versions of their content.

    It's amazing how many people simply aren't getting it when it comes to podcasting.