The download festival
IDEA No 72
PODCAST
A podcast is a digital file, originally made for downloading to a portable media player. While today’s versions are just as likely to be video files, the earliest examples were audio only.
The name podcast was coined by journalist Ben Hammersley in 2004. Before they had a name, audio blogs like Germany’s Tonspion (1998) and Buzzgrinder (2001) in the US published songs shared by artists and record labels. Downloaded to an MP3 player, these digital mix tapes proved a great means of promoting new acts. The format was popularized by blog and RSS pioneer Dave Winer in 2000. His software package Radio UserLand introduced additional functionality to RSS feeds. With it, listeners could subscribe to their favourite ...
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