Photo by Alex Blăjan on Unsplash

Key points

Instead of trying to write a comprehensive summary, I’m just going to give you some takeaway points based on a little research I just did into the history of podcasting. You’re welcome.

  • The term podcasting = iPod + broadcasting.
  • 2004 is widely recognized as the first year of podcasting.
  • The precursors to podcasting were radio on the internet and “audioblogging”, in which people were trying to share audio files in a regularly updated way.
  • RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication (and another thing, but ignore that); it’s an automated way to pull updated information, like new podcasts, from websites, so that you don’t have to go looking. It was an important tech development for the creation of podcasting.
  • There’s been a rise and fall in company dominance related to podcasts.
  • The first podcasts and precursors to podcasts seem to have been about technology; it took a minute before they became the domains of all the other fields of life and interest.
  • Podcasting is not regulated the way radio is, which is why the content can be pretty much anything.
  • Podcasting is still governed by copyright law.
  • Some people have made it huge in podcasting, like comedian Marc Maron, who famously interviewed Barack Obama on his podcast WTF.
  • There is talk about the beginning of the “Era of Big Podcasting” in which podcasting culture might become less independent and niche, and more corporate and centralized (with Apple be the central company).

Multimodal, ooh la la

Sources

https://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/podcasting4.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_podcasting
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS
https://internationalpodcastday.com/podcasting-history/
https://www.vulture.com/2019/09/podcasting-history-three-eras.html