Can We All Relax Now?
Posted on November 29, 2006
Filed Under podcasting | 5 Comments
So a guy [Dave Gray] sent Apple money to license the term “podcast” and they said they had no interest in pursing the matter. So, can all the nonsense please stop? The worst offender lately has been Leo Laporte with his “netcast” silliness, which besides being a worse term has the ultimate sin in such a thing – it’s already been used for various unrelated things for a decade. Even Leo can’t stick to it consistently, where he makes a big deal at the beginning of shows and by the middle has forgotten all about it and reverted back to “podcast.” As far as I’m concerned, the terminology stuff is put to bed once and for all.
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5 Responses to “Can We All Relax Now?”
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I agree totally. What I have found very interesting is that this story has really seen Leo under fire. Posts similar to your are popping up everywhere! It would seem that Leo’s “great idea” is not that great after all. I hate the term netcast.
BTW yeah I know the original story is two months gone. But the letter was only received two days ago.
Cheers
Dave, From the very first time I heard him use that term I thought it was a dumb idea. Reusing a term that people have been using for streaming, synchronous real-time stuff for a long time is way more confusing than people thinking you need an iPod. At least the latter confusion gets you in the right neighborhood. To be honest, I found the term so odious I stopped listening to some of the border line Leo podcasts that I wasn’t enjoying so much. Plus, like I say even in the 12 minutes of a Daily Giz Wiz, he’d forget by minute 4 and revert back to “podcast.” Why bother?
Thanks for doing this. I consider you hero of the medium for settling this once and for all!
agreed – let there be podcasts
actually to me it seems like leo has been against the term from the very first time he was exposed to it – i think he even mentioned his dislike of the term podcast on the interview matthew bischoff did of him for esc radio way back when – to his credit from that point on leo got the bug for podcasting and has embraced it fully, he just didn’t like the term, so he’s a dysfunctional early adopter…
It’s hard to break old habits but the term podcast is really bad because it gives Apple free publicity which they don’t deserve. Sorry to argue as you commented you want an end to this but by calling for an end you are inciting more debate! If it bothers you, the best thing is not to listen to Leo. I’m having to drop podcasts because of not enough time. I do enjoy his shows but much of it is often mindless banter, sort of like a high tech good morning america.
If you don’t like the term, create and publicize a better one. Thus far, in two years no one has come up with one worth a damn despite their best efforts, such as Leo’s abortive effort. Discussing that you don’t like it without an alternative is completely fucking useless and just bikeshedding that is a waste of everyone’s time.