
Dithering and Open versus Free - Amorymeltzer
https://stratechery.com/2020/dithering-and-the-open-web/
======
jtbayly
This is, on its surface, a product announcement, but at its core it is
actually another great explanation of why podcasts shouldn't be submitting
themselves to Spotify.

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eykd
I remember when people said that RSS and blogs were dead, and they'd just be
posting to Twitter and Facebook instead.

How'd that work out?

I'm really glad to see smart Publishers like Ben Thompson looking to head the
Aggregators off at the pass.

~~~
msla
I remember when Firefox destroyed my RSS bookmarks with no opportunity for
recourse.

~~~
ChrisSD
The recourse is addons.

~~~
msla
Destroying bookmarks goes a bit beyond what addons can fix.

~~~
ChrisSD
[https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/feed-reader-
replacement...](https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/feed-reader-replacements-
firefox)

It didn't destroy them. It turned them static and can also create a `Firefox
feeds backup.opml` that can be imported by feed readers.

Sure this may not be the best situation but they didn't simply destroy live
bookmarks.

~~~
msla
Well, I guess your mileage may vary on that one.

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tantalor
> that feed can be put in your favorite podcast app

Not necessarily. Not all podcasts apps support "manually" adding feeds.

[https://transistor.fm/add-podcast](https://transistor.fm/add-podcast)

> You can't currently manually add podcast RSS feeds to these apps: Spotify,
> Stitcher, Castbox, Google Play, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio App

~~~
felipemesquita
A good requirement to what’s considered a podcast would be that it’s published
as an RSS feed. Shows that are exclusive to an app aren’t really podcasts and
the apps that don’t let you add a podcast’s feed aren’t podcast players.

~~~
tantalor
Podcast apps don't need to let you add a feed because users expect podcast
apps to have a comprehensive built-in index of podcasts. If you open the app
and nothing is there, you install a better app.

That index could come from search/crawl or publishers. The big apps require
publishers to manually register their podcast:

Apple: [https://podcastsconnect.apple.com/my-podcasts/new-
feed](https://podcastsconnect.apple.com/my-podcasts/new-feed)

Google:
[https://play.google.com/music/podcasts/portal](https://play.google.com/music/podcasts/portal)

Sticher:
[https://partners.stitcher.com/join#signup](https://partners.stitcher.com/join#signup)

Spotify:
[https://podcasters.spotify.com/submit](https://podcasters.spotify.com/submit)

I think the main reason for this requirement is licensing. By default apps
cannot safely redistribute copyrighted podcast content. You have to
specifically approve Stitcher etc. to handle your material.

[https://www.lifewire.com/legal-side-of-rss-
feeds-3469296](https://www.lifewire.com/legal-side-of-rss-feeds-3469296)

~~~
jtbayly
Google Podcast does not require you to register your podcast. They are not
distributing anything copyrighted. They find an RSS feed for a podcast on the
web, and they make it available for you to find via search.

Also, private podcasts exist, where you need to put in an RSS feed that isn't
in any public listing.

If you didn't read the article, you really should, along with this one[0].
Spotify and Stitcher really are special (bad) cases.

[0]: [https://stratechery.com/2019/shopify-and-the-power-of-
platfo...](https://stratechery.com/2019/shopify-and-the-power-of-platforms/)

------
dgellow
The free and open source software world need much discussions on this “open vs
free (as in bier)” dichotomy...

I dream of a world where lot of indie open source developers are actually paid
for their work by something else than Google or Facebook!

~~~
andrey_utkin
In your dream world, what do regular people _pay for_?

~~~
dgellow
That’s something to explore.

In my vision people pay for packaged software, such as a packaged deb or rpm
or whatever format consumers want to buy. They get access to the sources too,
and can build themselves if that’s what they want.

I would really like to be able to buy services for my raspberry pi for
example, knowing that I will get a packaged software that is maintained and
tested. I have no issues to setup stuff myself, but if I can have for example
a media player that I can buy and install via an APT equivalent, I would be
quite happy. I find it really weird that I never had to pay for VLC given the
amount of time I spent using it (I list it in my top 3 softwares of all time).

Also I want to be able to spend my time creating and selling tools and
services that people can easily shop for and install.

Basically steam, but not for command line and services.

I find it really strange that we expect open source software to be free and
have developers asking for donations instead of having more standard market
dynamics. We don’t have this for games, or arts, or anything else that I’m
aware of.

I know I can donate, I’ve done it multiple time. But I don’t think that make
sense.

------
perseusprime11
Not sure if I want to start paying for podcasts without knowing if I will
enjoy or learn anything from them.

~~~
1123581321
The Ben Thompson episodes of Gruber’s podcast would give you a good idea.

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obenn
I love the idea and the article. My only criticism of the podcast is that I
wish there was a sample episode available.

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em-bee
rss is indeed exactly like email. i even have my rss feeds forwarded to my
email, using an email client to read them. that allows me to tag, annotate or
even delete rss entries. entries are also saved permanently and don't
disappear when the publisher decides to remove an entry.

------
quadrangle
We need to break out of the entire dichotomy between paywalls vs ads. Both of
those models are deeply anti-social at their core.

Of course, it's still essential that we fund creative work. But we need to
stop presuming that the only options are paywalls or ads. If paywalls or ads
bring enough funding, then the money _exists_. We just need to work out how to
distribute it to the creative workers by means that aren't so compromised.

~~~
cwyers
What are the other options?

~~~
quadrangle
\- public funding (i.e. tax-supported)

\- private grants

\- crowdfunding patronage (without paywalls, actual donations)

\- business support of commons / ecosystem that is shared among businesses

in the crowdfunding domain, it's still rare but not unheard of to have pure
uncompromised patronage, e.g.
[https://www.peppercarrot.com/](https://www.peppercarrot.com/) having no
paywalls, FLO licensing, and no ads

among efforts to build more effective mass patronage, there's Snowdrift.coop
(not yet fully launched)

------
valera_rozuvan
On the topic of music, copyright, and free stuff.

When you think of music and the big picture, bands should be giving music away
for free (Radiohead!). This is done so as to create new fans and reach more
people who might come to concerts in the future. Or (gasp!) actually pay for
an album to support their favorite music performer.

Musicians should be thinking about creating a relationship with their intended
audience. They should tap into the networked age, and bring music out of the
low space it occupied in the past between the producer and consumer. Bring
music into the wide multi-national and multi-lingual community.

To understand and to make meaning of it all - is the key of the 21st century.
Not to monetize.

~~~
hinkley
So, they should be doing things for free to get “exposure”?

