

How HTML5 Will Save Podcasting and Make it a Billion-Dollar Market - amayne
http://hiddenfrequency.com/post/1065772841/how-html5-can-save-podcasting-and-make-it-a

======
davidcann
If I understand correctly, you're suggesting that users will verbally speak to
the iPod while the podcast is playing. Wouldn't the most common spoken command
be "skip ad"?

The concept of interactive audio programming is interesting, but it doesn't
seem likely to become commonplace.

~~~
amayne
"Skip ad" would only be an option if the producers put that in there. Think of
it like banners or audio iAds. You have to know it's there to skip it.

If Kevin Smith asks you if you want to hear him talk about product X, most
people will say "yes".

------
wslh
No please.

I can suggest other billion-dollar market ideas... why no put ads inside
expensive drugs, it really benefits the patient... or why not put ads in the
sky ala Batman? more billion dollar markets ideas?

------
cpearce
The problem with podcasting is not that you can't put ads in podcasts, it's
that podcasts as a medium are inconvenient.

You can't skim read a podcast. You can't easily fill 2 spare minutes by
skimming a podcast like you can with a written article.

The same problem exists with online video and talking head "video blogs" FWIW,
though it's not quite as bad, as you can still skim-view.

The HTML5 video/audio elements will enable you to increase the playback rate,
which will somewhat alleviate this problem.

~~~
ecaradec
I thought that until I began listening podcast while commuting. Don't listen
to podcast at you desk, listen in the bus, while driving, running, etc... You
don't need a iPod, I got a $30 mp3 player and it's great.

------
mkramlich
Call me old fashioned but there seem to be at least two simple and
straightforward ways to monetize podcasts. One is to charge
consumers/subscribers directly. Two is to accept payments from advertisers to
embed an advertisement (eg. sponsor acknowledgement) in the podcast itself,
say near the very beginning (see Mixergy, etc.) Neither of those requires
upgrading HTML or having any fancy click-tracking or affiliates deals.

~~~
amayne
Yes, those are ways to monetize podcasts. But so far they're not effective
ways of doing so. That's why after almost a decade podcasting is still a niche
market.

Inserting ads without tracking puts you at a competitive disadvantage to other
forms of online advertising.

~~~
mkramlich
good points

------
minalecs
couldn't they have done this with flash a long time ago ?

~~~
amayne
Flash isn't open or a cross-platform standard. They have yet to implement
anything like this in the mobile space yet because of all the hardware
variations.

Putting it at the browser level in HTML5 solves all those problems for the
most part.

~~~
tdmackey
I don't think those are the problems that led to the "failure" of podcasts and
companies like odeo. Sure they are nice problems to solve, but they don't fix
the real issue.

~~~
amayne
Odeo tried to solve the wrong problem. iTunes and tools like GarageBand solved
the content and distribution problem. Odeo was never going to compete with
that. What was needed was a scalable solution for monetizing podcasts that
worked across platforms.

------
alexiocowabunga
It seems a bit bizarre to implement a system to send audio and video for
comments. Youtube already do video replies which are not exactly setting the
world alight, surely just a comment box will suffice?

------
audyyy
Voice recognition algorithms aren't "getting better everyday." Development is
actually kind of stagnant.

