I'm assuming you've listening to episode 62 in which we talk about this...but that's neither here nor there, it's a great topic of discussion.

So, let me give my thoughts on the list he gives in that post...

1. You can't scan through a podcast to find the good stuff. Well, this isn't really true. Enhanced podcasts (which we should start doing) make this possible. With bookmarked chapters (organized by discussion topic) and accompanying album art (to tell you what that segment discusses) this is easily do-able. My most frequently listened to podcast, the maccast does an excellent job of this, and I can zoom through episodes listening to the stuff that will interest me.
2. It's tough to carve out time to listen to podcasts. Says who? MF's favorite stat is that the average american commutes in their car 81 minutes a day (and this doesn't count people who walk, take the bus or subway, etc, who probably take longer). That's a WHOLE lot of time where a podcast is the perfect way to pass the time.
3. Other things like videos and reading sound more fun than listening to someone talk. More fun? That's debatable. But are they as convenient and feesible? This plays back into the previous problem...there IS very little time that people can watch video (try that while driving to work), while I think audio is extremely accessible and potentially very entertaining.
4. Podcast quality often stinks. Ok, I won't debate this one. But I covered this pretty well on the episode where we talked about it. Podcasting is young and very accessible. The trend will wear off and crappy podcasts will cease to exist, leaving better quality 'casts as the bulk of the marketplace.
5. They don't lend themselves to viral distribution. This is probably true, but it's only true because they actually have deeper, more useful content. I don't know that anything that can be distributed virally has any worth. By definition, viral media is shallow and entertaining for a minute, and then is tossed by the wayside. I wouldn't want that in a podcast anyway.

Those are my reactions to that list. What does this mean for churches? First, I think it means "don't suck at podcasting"...or you WILL end up being one of those bad podcasts that dies away.

I think it also means that our mentality about podcasting needs to be long term, not trend-minded. Anyone who's starting a podcast just so they can say they have a podcast will probably be wasting their time. I think it's a long-term media that will end up becoming stabilized in the coming years, and churches need to be a part of it.

Ok...maybe that was about 3 cents worth...

-Rob Feature
Geeks and God Co-Host
www.mustardseedmedia.com

When TV came radio didn't die. When MTV came on the scene with music videos (and actually played them) radio didn't go anywhere. Even with all the music on the radio talk radio hasn't died.

So, not we moved to a new transportation medium. From the air waves to the internet. And, as things become more connected more traffic will happen there.

So, I expect both audio and video to stick around. Both podcasting and vodcasting.

And, people listen to podcasts for more than to just jump to the piece of data they are looking for to get. Think about morning radio. People listen because they have a personal attachment to the talker. They have a relationship so to speak. So, they listen to them.

It's not all about information or getting data. It's about people, too.

Matt Farina
Geeks and God Co-Host
www.innovatingtomorrow.net
www.mattfarina.com

The idea that Podcasting is dying is a joke. It is only now beginning to become part of main stream consciousness. Every day I find more and more people who are not geeks or techie tpes but average everyday technology users who are aware of Podcasting. Awareness is key. We have already bridged the biggest gap. As all of us know once you get onboard the Podcast train you are hooked in a way radio simply cannot recreate and in many ways T.V. etc... cannot copy.

I will not even talk about the idea that people do not have time to listen and or watch. That is just laughable. No offense.

The problem we have is getting people to take that step from awareness to use. I believe that is a matter of convenience. People will not generally go out of their way to try something they do not really know they will love. Podcasting is a great example of that. It is like reading mystery books. You may know someone who would just love mysteries and they know about them but getting them to read that first book can be tough. Once they do blamo they are hooked for life. That is exactly the way Podasting is.

What do we do about it? Well in part all we Podcasters can do is try really hard to improve the quality and content of our shows and BE READY FOR THE FLOOD NOAH!!. Other than that is really really try hard to push that grass roots movement. More important than us is the development of far easier delivery methods for the public at large to take advantage of. This is largely in the hands of Apple, Microsoft and the access providers. When and if those elements come together, and they will, to deliver Podcasting on demand with just a few clicks and some simple searches, or more importantly Google delivers a fast search and acquisition method for Podcast we will reach that tipping point. DO not forget that the 700mhz broadcast band will soon become high speed nation wide wireless. That may be the push.

If you have not read the book Tipping Point, do. This Tipping Point is what we are looking for. Podcasting is not, thank goodness, Viral in nature. If it were we would indeed be dead. Those people who are claiming the death of Podcasting are just not looking at the development of an entirely new media with the kind of long term scope such a fundamental change in how information and entertainment content is delivered entails.

This is not an over night process and Podcasting is but one part in a much bigger picture. It will not go away. It will always be part of the picture much the way radio is still an important part of mass media to this day.

Look at it this way because this is the analogy. If you are old enough to remember the shift from broadcast television to cable this is very similar to what is happening now. There is a fundamental shift about to happen from broadcast/ cable forms of content delivery to wireless Internet based delivery. Podcasting and vidcasting will be the new radio in that future. They will not go away. There will always be people who for one reason or another are left behind just like those still using rabbit ears to this day but in no time kids will no more think about using cable or broadcast media for their entertainment than they remember cassettes today.

Podcasters and their comrades are the pioneers blazing the way to the future. We will get there. It is inevitable. I have no idea how long it will take but when we hit the Tipping Point it will seem like everything changed over night. Much like no one can recognize the world of 1997 and its Internet community from todays. There was no Google, No iPod, No You Tube, no Myspace or Face Book, No Digital Music scene no real online gaming to speak of. and virtually no Apple Computer heck most of the change has happened in only 5 years. 5 years from now those people who are saying Podcasting is dead will have found something else to bemoan. In fact I think I remember them saying something 10 years ago about the Internet being a fad. I bet many are the very same people.

My two cents.
Jeff Stuckey
P.S. Please excuse the bad grammar I was rushed.

I mostly agree that we are experiencing the start of something. We are experiencing the absorbtion and shake out of a personalized, globalized, multi-media, time-shifted phase of digitally encoded communications.

And I'm not even sure what podcasting "is" in peoples minds. I understand it to be serialized communiques, containing audio/video content and internet feed ditribution. Some people probably associate podcasting with a particular focus or implementation of this and see that as "the esscence" of podcasting. I don't. And I think, seeing a particular style of implementation as being the "essence of podcasting" is what can lead to these "death watch" speculations. I do expect inclusion of video will become more common. Images help us engage. I listen to a couple 'casts where I start watching the video to connect and later only glance back occasionally to reconnect. Still I find they do a better job of engaging me than do most audio only formats. A well done audio though (like G&G ) can overcome minor video advantages. Anyway, I consider the distinction between the forms not to be terribly relevent as both are already identified as being Podcasts.

As far as the "death" of podcating... We still have all the previous serialized forms of communications. Why would the digital, internet based forms die off at the inception of a digital internet age? If anything, the age seems to be increasing the popularity of serialized content, because it allows the time shifting, replays, and transfers that were awkward or impossible during preceding centuries of broadcast and physical media distribution. TV series, the epitome of serialized broadcast are now being made available in physical formats and by internet subscription (essentially a different type of podcast). It's such a serious prospect that it currently has caused a labor strike shutting down series production.

As to whether "church podcasting" needs some tweaking or some major reworking (the options discussed in Church Marketing Sucks), it seems certain to undergo a bit of each. As already discussed here on G&G, the "sermon podcast" isn't great from a lot of perspectives. Still it seems destined for a permanent place as an eventual successor format for serialized recordings drawn from church "services". I don't think there really yet is another dominant form of Church podcasting, so other forms of church podcasting are all experimental until we can identify and develop more experience with different variations.

I think the longer term question for religion is how much the coming communications age will change the nature, relevence, appeal, and popularity of traditional religious events and activities. That is difficult to predict. The printing press substantially changed many aspects of our experiences with religion and each other. Traditional broadcast communications have had some significant effects on our relations which each other, but more minor effects on religion. How and to what degree might a world of personalized, globalized, digitally encoded, multi-media content effect our lives, our thinking, our religion and our religious institutions?

Regards,
Mark

I think the printing press did something different than we experience today. The printing press brought the written word to the masses. This meant that people could learn what was written for themselves.

But, modern media is different. It typically isn't about the learning. For example, even though someone could newly read the bible they still sang songs of praise to God. I've seen in the new media this replaced with people watching a video of others praising.

I think the printing press helped bring people closer to God. In a lot of ways I see how we are using media now doing the opposite. Rather than singing we are watching bands. Rather than praying we are watching videos.

A defining thing for us, as a church, is learning how to use media in a way that helps build people up in their relationship with Christ and not transplant it for a relationship with media.

Matt Farina
Geeks and God Co-Host
www.innovatingtomorrow.net
www.mattfarina.com

Jeff....
I had my Mac read me your comment via it's text to speech...and I swear I felt like 'Battle Hymn of the Republic' should be playing in the background!

Your comments were really inspiring to us podcasters and I think, quite possibly, could be dead on.

-Rob Feature
Geeks and God Co-Host
www.mustardseedmedia.com

...ok, I don't know how to spell niche, but you know what I mean....

Podcasting will not die, because it has a niche audience. That is a huge thing. The podcast that got me into listening to podcasts is about teaching English as a second language. Its niche audience are people who've left the US at some point are are in some "out there" place in the world. A show like that would never be on the radio or TV because its audience is too small and too difficult to channel to a specific time and location. The podcast is perfect. Listen where you are, when you want, to what you want to hear.

Is there advertising on podcasts yet? That, I could see happening in the future...

I think you are right when you say podcasts have a niche audience. But, so do talk radio shows. That's why there can be several well followed ones that are so different. I do think that podcasting take the niche to another level.

Thought, as podcasting caches on I expect there to be some fairly big podcasts with a lot of followers. Millions of followers. There are already some gigantic podcasts without Windows supporting podcasting. Though, it is starting to finally roll out in Microsoft products.

Yes, there is already podcasting advertising. The most followed podcasts already have advertising. Part of Podtrac helps set podcasts up with advertisers.

I think podcasting is just leaving the early adopter phase. It's entering mainstream use. I think the real explosion is about to happen.

Matt Farina
Geeks and God Co-Host
www.innovatingtomorrow.net
www.mattfarina.com