COPYCENSE

"Remember the Web in 1994? Lots of pictures of pet cats and long lists of people’s favorite junk foods.

"Podcasting is in the same place today as the Web was in 1994. These personal radio broadcasts, designed to be downloaded to an iPod or similar MP3 player, are homespun, rough-edged, and — let’s be honest — not all that riveting.

"One problem is that, much like the Web before advertising and e-commerce, there’s no money in podcasting yet. I doubt we would have seen Google, eBay, CNN.com, or Mapquest emerge if the Web had remained a commerce-free zone. Ads and transactions on the Web gave everyone an incentive to produce high-quality websites, from start-ups like eBay to giant media corporations like CNN to individuals like Harry Knowles, who runs the movie insiders’ site Ain’t It Cool News."

Scott Kirsner. Podcasting Faces Growing Pains. Boston Globe. Feb. 28, 2005.

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