Podcasting History: From Simple Roots to Simply Good

Podcasting is a word that was officially accepted only in 2004, since it was a slang term that is actually a combination of two words – iPod and broadcasting. The iPod, which is portable, digital media player, is available to almost every part of the world and is very popular among different types of people – old and young, man and woman, Oriental and American, etc. The word “broadcasting” used in this setting can be misinterpreted as there is no real broadcasting involved, as in TV and radio broadcasting. This is the origin of the term “podcast”. A podcast is simply a unique way of downloading digital media files (audio or video) via the Internet using RSS (Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication).

The history of podcasting began only in the new millennium, when the concept was first being contemplated in the year 2000. A software developer and the man credited as being the author of RSS, Dave Winer, was the first to actually put podcasting into operation, albeit in a different way from what it is today. When it first began, there was very little popularity, as only a handful of people knew about RSS and podcasting. Winer developed something known as “enclosure” for one of the first versions of RSS, 0.92, which would send the URL of any media file to an RSS reader (or aggregator, as some know it to be). This feature was released in 2001.

It was only in 2004 that people fully realized the potential of using podcasts and how it can make the Internet life easier. According to Google, a widely popular search engine, in the span of about one year since 2004, there were a total of over 100 million hits on the word “podcasts”. Today, many Internet users use podcasting for videos, music, news, blogging, images, streaming media, and more. Podcasting has become so popular today that it has caught on with news media outlets such as the New York Times, BBC News, CNN, and more. Politicians realize the power of podcasting and have began using them, as both the Democratic and Republican parties organize podcasts, even including US President George W. Bush.

Podcasting began a few years ago in very modest circumstances. Six years later, it is very popular amongst Internet users and there are signs that point to it being even more popular as the years go by, as more ideas sprout up and technology gets more and more advanced as time passes.