iTunes 4.9 adding support for podcasts

Hugeness: Steve Jobs just revealed at the D: All Things Digital Conference that iTunes 4.9 will add support for podcasts. With one click you'll be able to subscribe to different feeds and have them automatically delivered to your iPod without using a third-party app like iPodder. You'll be able to search through a directory of available podcasts (producers will be able to register their podcasts with the iTunes Music Store), but users will have the option of adding whatever feeds they want to iTunes. The other big news: Jobs says that he would consider selling podcasts through the iTunes Music Store, something which should have Audible just a little worried.

[Foxified @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

I wont pay for podcast

[jono @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

HAhahahah i can see curry absolutely shitting himself, all that money put into podshow and apple can steal the market in about 10 seconds!

[Don @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Wonder if it will also incorporate support for Video Blogs (if in QT format) now that iTunes supports QT movies?

[Richard @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Cool, no more 3rd party apps! When is it out?

[Lee Wilkins @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

What I'd like to see is iTunes 4.9 supporting Podshow and supporting the community as a whole.

[TWISTshow @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

It's about time iTunes had built-in funtionality to collect podcasts. It took long enough. And Adam Curry isnt putting any of his own money into podshow.com, just time. So I don't think he is worried about losing money on Apple's announcement.

[Jul @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Be nice, Bill Gates reads Engadget comments
http://calacanis.weblogsinc.com/entry/1234000440044239/

Hello Bill !

[Jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

"Be nice, Bill Gates reads Engadget comments"

Heck, I'll bet he posts here!

You know, we all have jobs, and none of us know exactly what it is any of us do or who any of us really are. There's always this assumption that people who read and post comments on blogs or in forums are just a bunch of nobodies, but it ain't true. You never know who you're talking to...

(I really *am* a nobody, so I'm not hinting at anything here, just saying.)

[Z @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

I think it's great that iTunes software will support podcasting. But I also wouldn't pay for a podcast.

First of all, the attraction of podcasting is that it's about the free and simple creation and online distribution of ideas in audio form, which are then also free to listen to. The moment money gets in the middle, podcasting will lose much of its power, impact, and appeal.

Money will just screw it up. I could just see it now... podcast creators all over the net (even independant of iTunes) will develop a false sense of entitlement to money by charging a fee in exchange for a boring, low quality podcast. I believe charging money for podcasts could very well stifle their overall creativity and progression.

Some might argue that charging for podcasts will help increase their overall quality because people will demand it in exchange for paying a fee, but I'm not so sure. No podcast succeeds without being of higher quality and possessing good content in the first place, so my belief is that money will have little positive impact on how good they get. I think charging for podcasts will cause podcast creators to focus too much on dollar signs and less on content and creativity. Right now, it's not about what you can earn, it's about the free flow of ideas.

Secondly, podcasting overall has not developed enough in terms of consistent quality and great content to warrant a fee to listen to it. I don't pay to listen to the radio which is much more professional than virtually any podcast... so I'm definitely not going to pay to listen to podcasts.

But iTunes content support for it is fantastic!

[umijin @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Don't need this STEVE! There are lots of other improvements this app needs, but that one is not very high on my list.

And I don't need video in iTunes 4.8 (which I'm not downloading). I want my movie files in my movie folder, not my iTunes folder. And I don't want iTunes as my default movie app.

[Gordy @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Rush Limbaugh actually leaked this early last week. He noted that his show would be available as a podcast, and that iTMS would be carrying it soon.

[JimK @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Why would this hurt Audible? Podcasts cannot offer Audible-like content...see, those books are copyrighted. C'mon guys...you knew that.

Unless the podcaster selling the podcast through iTunes has the legal right to read the book and see it, Jobs would be breaking the law if he competed with Audible.

No, this is not a threat to Audible in any way, but it *is* an enhancement of the iTunes/uiPod loop, and a welcome one at that.

[wol @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

so, where can i download 4.9 ?

[aelso @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

It all really depends on what the Podcast is that is being charged.

Think of it as a series of Audiobooks. People are happy to pay for audiobooks on their own. Why not a series of podcast delivered audiobooks?

[Peter Forret @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Will be interesting to see how Microsoft reacts. They have the only audio format capable of competing with MP3 for podcasts, but they have to get off their lazy bums and promote it.

[Flashman @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Here's a revenue model. iTunes charges five cents for you to listen to my podcast, of which I get maybe two or three cents.

For every thousand listeners I can get, that's twenty or thirty bucks.

If I get ten thousand listeners and do one show each weekday, that's fifty to seventy-five grand a year. And for listeners, ten bucks for a year's worth of podcasts.

Economies of scale mean that some popular podcasters could get very rich, very quickly, for very little cost per subscription.

On my numbers, Adam Curry's audience could provide him with thousands of dollars per episode.

[David @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Apple don't care about revenues from iTunes. they don't make any money on it..... what they do do is make loads of money on the iPods which are sold on the back of iTunes.....

Podcasting is even better fro this....

Personally, I think its a great idea. Doppler is a bit of a pain to use in addition to iTunes.

[Kevin @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

If quality podcasts were offered on iTunes for a decent price, I'd buy them. Things like This Week In Tech are great to listen to but a pain in the butt to sync up to my iPod.

[declan @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Yes 5 cent a podcast may seem like a good idea for podcasters, but remember a podcast is not like music, you wont listen to it twice, even if you like it the first time.

Why should a user be expected to buy a poscast with no gurantee that it is up to the standard he expects? If I pay 5 cent and download Adam Currys podcast today I'll probably pay for it tomorrow. However if tomorrow and wednesday it sucks am I going to pay to download it on Thursday? Probably not. Instead I'm going to go listen to other, free, podcasts and Adams podcast looses a listener.

Over time the vast majority existing podcasters will loose market share as old listeners drift away and new listeners will be unwilling to pay to listen to something with no idea if they will like it or not.

[Andrew @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

What might happen though is that a two-tier system emerges: the good old regular podcasts are available through iTunes, or using iTunes as a conduit for getting them on your system without having to have iPodder or whatever running, but at the same time some commercial shows move over to iTunes.

NPR is already experimenting with Podcasts for some shows, but there are others you can only get for download through Audible (Car Talk, This American Life). Perhaps this now provides a way for those shows to move over to a system that has a wider user base than Audible and maybe more profit for content creators.

[Yves @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Hello Bill :)

[narco @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

I'm glad and I'm not. It's great that Apple will provide podcasts, but they'll probably sell them. I always understood that podcasts were more like radio, except all the B.S. but I don't want to have to pay an outrageous amount for them.

You can download music and keep it forever, but most podcasts are either talk or music, both of which aren't worth multiple-listens.

Then there is the option to stream podcasts, but you can't put a stream on your iPod.

I like the whole underground feel of podcasting. If Apple kept their same 99� model, I'd be fine with that. I can't wait to see how Apple handles this.

Fishes,
narco.

[PXLated @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Now, if Apple would just add easy Podcast creation to GarageBand (or a slimed-down version), maybe through Quicktime so it could be cross-platform...they'd have the Podcasting thing tied up :-)

[Ke'n @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Podcast subscriptions. You pay from $2-5 a month for automatic daily downloads of shows such as NPR, CarTalk, Rush with no commercial interruptions. The downloads occur after the live show has aired.
See the possibilities. This is the area where Audible could get hurt. Basically, anyone who wants to drive sales of products or traffic to their own website can offer low-cost downloads.

Also will simplify this process for schools/colleges.

[L @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

I believe someone already made this point, but Apple does not sell music to make money. It is a loss leader to establish iTunes as the standard software. They would probably give music away free if there weren't legal and copyright restrictions. I don't see any reason that they could not sell audio books on the same model.

Podcasting, though, is generally created by people that want their cast to spread and are not collecting fees for each download. As long as that stays the model, I don't see why Apple would want to charge for their download. I believe it is not Apple that will make the ultimate decision. It is 1) the creators of the podcast and 2) consumers. Instead, I believe that podcasters will move towards an advertising model. But it will all depend on what consumers will put up with...

So, what are your thoughts? Would you rather hear a couple of ads in each podcast or pay a dollar to download?

[Don @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Jono said "HAhahahah i can see curry absolutely shitting himself, all that money put into podshow and apple can steal the market in about 10 seconds!"

Would that be before or after his private hour and a half conversation with Steve Jobs earlier today (or yesterday) as mentioned in his most recent DSC?

[r1cky @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Just to say "Hi, Bill!"

[Phillip Sellers @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

I want the Dave Winer Signature Model! Seriously, if 4.9 has Podcasting in it, it will free iPod from the field of gravity (and government control)and become one of media history's most significant benchmarks. By additionally souping up Garageband with podcasting-friendly production capabilities, iPod will become the must-have of the century. Doing smart at Apple would be to steer clear of fees and instead promote amatearism which is the intrinsic nature of RSS.

[swissfondue @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Now, if only Apple would enable the iPod with a line-in to record live podcasts. Of course one can already do this by adding third party hardware. Apple needs to enable the iPod to record at higher audio quality settings, which shouldn't be difficult since an iPod running Linux can already record up to 96khz.

[wigglemancharley @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Hey not everyone listens to music. Think of the market as a whole. Podcasts are perfect for people into sports talk and political talk, news talk, etc.

These people have yet to find a reason to buy an iPod. I guess now they will. My bet is Apple will go for a subscription-based model that allows for an ala carte approach to content selection.

[Danny @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Ref to:

http://www.i638.com/ipost.php?tid=692&mid=73874

[wigglemancharley @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Hey not everyone listens to music. Think of the market as a whole. Podcasts are perfect for people into sports talk and political talk, news talk, etc.

These people have yet to find a reason to buy an iPod. I guess now they will. My bet is Apple will go for a subscription-based model that allows for an ala carte approach to content selection.

[Aaron Grant @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

#12: Here's one example of how this could hurt Audible:
http://www.scottsigler.net

He's the author of the book, EarthCore and he has created a podcast of his reading of it, Audible-style.

Apple could potentially go directly to the authors and make deals with them to read their own copyrighted works. I'm not saying it's likely, just possible.

[mike @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Hey not everyone listens to music. Think of the market as a whole

--

For example, the deaf...

Great point!

[Dean Shan @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

I think that the addition of download Podcast straight into iTunes will bring Podcasts to the masses. Right now Podcasts are only being listened to by a relatively small number (when compared to the rest of the nation). Once they add Podcasts to the iTMS even my mother will know what a Podcast is. While I like the addition of Podcasts into iTunes I don't think I would pay for them at $1 a pop.

[Mark Jeffrey @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

There are four books currently being podcast for FREE, and calling themselves 'podiobooks': Scott Sigler's Earthcore (mentioned above), Morevi, Tom Corven, and The Pocket and the Pendant (my book, disclaimer). All of them -- and some future ones -- are aggregated at http://www.podiobooks.com

[Kapila Wimalaratne @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

It's fantastic that Apple is supporting the direct subscription to podcasts via iTunes, but there's one feature that would trump this: The ability to add your own labelled chapter markers to audiobooks/podcasts to use in iTunes/iPod.

If Apple were to do this, podcasting would really take off.

Kap

[Mr. X of Podcastoutlaws.com @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

They are going to ruin this if they don't allow you to subscribe to the Podcasts you want to subscribe to--in the fashion that NetNewsWire handles Podcast downloading. Otherwise, great addition and I can't wait to hear more about this.

[Sable @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

I am ecstatic about itunes listening to the needs of the user community and providing the wanted functionality. I think that itunes should provide the ability to add feeds just like ipodder and then, for those content providers charging, a pay subscription will be available. Personally, I wouldn't pay to listen to Rush. I listen to the ad's on a show and the ad's pay for the production. I would strongly encourage people to not pay for podcasts for the same reasons.

I would like to see apple open itunes (and the servers) to little guys like me who only put up a few things on my feed here and there so that it would be easier for my friends and family download and listen.

Good move Apple!

[ipodrulz @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Well i use ipodder and i just wondering why the fu#* isn't it working for engadget???

[dcmachead @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

this is very cool. i think all they need to do to get this thing to work is sprinkle some quick advertisements into the podcasts (like 10 or 15 seconds) and they've got this thing paid for by the advertisers. having something like this will drive traffic to ITMS where people will buy more music. the other thought i've got is to use bit torrent to distribute the podcasts...not sure if apple will foot the broadband bill or if they'd do bittorrent to get things moving quicker and keep bandwidth down.

[me� obviously @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

well bit torrent technology would make a lot of sense at least for the 'casts with a large audience. I don't think they could put a bittorrent sticker on the podcast service though with its stigma of being a nouveau napster. The whole idea behind bittorrent was to allow this sort of thing to be possible. As i understand it the intent of the developers was to licence the technology to those with high bandwidth demands. Apple already has a the itunes software and they can simply integrate the bittorrent client code into it and it would be all set.

[Noise Inside My Head Podcast @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

The podcasts will be free. Just like the Radio section of iTMS. The key for podcasters is building awareness of their shows and then making sure they have the bandwidth to allow 1000's of downloads that a possible "hit show" would bring.

[Alistair Bell @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

And now... NPR has pulled all its shows from Audible. They're available through a service called AudioFeast, but it isn't iPod-compatible. No idea if NPR has an exclusive deal with AudioFeast, or if something with iTMS is in the offing. I would assume NPR wouldn't shoot themselves in the foot by killing off support for the iPod completely, so maybe there'll be an announcement later in the week at WWDC...

[joel @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

You can use the new podcast option for video blogs. any RSS feed with enclosures that uses video (im thinking only quicktime) can be played in itunes now. Just find a video blog that uses quicktime. Subscribe to it as a podcast using the advanced menu. then click get and you can watch the videos in the small little window or full screen. Not sure if you knew but now you do.

But I still like ant for my video blogs

[Gardner Campbell @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Re Kap's remark at comment 37 above: I agree completely. Anyone know how to add these markers? Are they new in iTunes 4.9? I see the little chapter icon pop up when I listen to the New Music Tuesday podcast ... I want to make one of these pop up for section of my podcast, too.

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[Russell Schofield @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

I downloaded 5.0 on my windows notebook and it messed up so many programs I have not been able to figure it all out yet. But I loved 4.9 does anyone know where I can get a copy, I have it on the home computer is there a way to take a copy off of it to disk