by Rob Walch

In the beginning God created Adam and then Adam (with the help of Dave) created a new medium called podcasting. Well, maybe that is stretching it a little. Originally podcasting was known as audio blogging. But within weeks of its creation a new name appeared and that name was “podcast,” and the small group of audio bloggers said, “This name is good,” and they accepted the new name. The name podcast was also quickly accepted by bloggers and the mainstream media. This new medium, armed with a catchy name, was then able to ride the coattails of the iPod media frenzy in the fall of 2004.

However, all was not perfect in the garden of podcasting. Even from the beginning there were some who wanted to hold on to the name audio blog, or others that felt the name podcast was misleading. They argued the name made people think they needed an iPod to listen. But these few dissenters were small in numbers, not organized and offered no better alternatives.

Then in the Spring of 2005 a new group of people (let’s call them for the sake of this article “the forces of evil”) arrived on the scene and they declared that the name podcast was not good and we needed to change the name. The first name the forces of evil suggested was “nanocast.” They quickly formed the nanocasting alliance; they were organized and they were focused. They pushed forth their combined wisdom, of which they, as experienced media and marketing professionals, clearly had an overabundance. However, they overlooked one small detail: podcasting had become more than a name, it had become a community. And so the name nanocast quickly died along with the names picocast, femtocast and attocast.

Then the forces of evil, this time a group from Redmond, decreed that the name should be “blogcast,” and a collective yawn was heard throughout the land. The final nails were driven into the coffins of the names blogcast and nanocast when Apple released iTunes v4.9 with “podcast” support in late June of 2005. In one move Apple put the name podcast on to millions of computers and put the most effective marketing machine in the world behind the name.

For a while it seemed there would be no more real issues with the name podcast, however, the forces of evil were not through. They waited in the wings for an opportunity and in late September 2006 Wired.com offered that opportunity by misreporting on a story and making it look like Apple was trying to take over the name podcast. Within days of that story the blogosphere had twisted the Wired.com story into a feeding frenzy of fear and anger. Sadly, a white knight in the community and his trusty steed were both tricked by the forces of evil to support the name “netcast.” Fortunately the truth about Apple’s intentions was quickly revealed and people learned that Apple had “no issues with the term podcast.” Not only that: the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) rejected the trademark application that a company, not Apple nor related to Apple in any way, had submitted for the term “podcast.” The USPTO even added “podcasting” into the list of generic terms. So what at first looked like it might become a civil war in the community over the name in the end turned out to be just another name that did not measure up to podcast.

While Apple did not introduce the term podcast as a replacement for audio blogs, Apple did throw both audio and video together in the podcast directory in iTunes. Which is not a bad thing for video bloggers, uhm, I mean vidcasters or is it vloggers or… Seems that community could never decide on a name for itself. I think one of my guests on podCast411 said it best: “I don’t care what a reporter calls my medium when they are interviewing me — just as long as they get my URL spelled right.”

Granted, the name podcast is not perfect, but it has proven to be clearly the best name. It’s supported by most of the major technology and new media companies including Amazon, AOL, AT&T, CNN, Nokia, Sprint and Yahoo. Even Microsoft’s site for the Zune references podcasts. Game over. “Podcast” wins.

If you’re a podcaster in search of storage solutions, and you want a product that delivers what it promises, avoid Western Digital. Instead, go with LaCie (www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?pid=10059). The modest LaCie 120GB I use, even after four years of service, continues to perform like a champ. Its FireWire worked in 2004, and it works now. And, priced at less than $160, the LaCie 320GB offers FireWire 400 and 800 connections. While I have not purchased one (yet), based on LaCie’s reputation and reliability, I have no doubt these drives deliver what they promise.