What is a Podcast?

A podcast is simply a different way of delivering content to an audience.  The main difference is that it is the audience chooses what and when they will consume.  Through the magic of Adam Curry and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds content authors can set up feeds that will deliver that content to the audience when and where they choose.

Unlike traditional broadcast media which decides what programs to run and when to run them, you as the audience member can choose what programs you wish to watch or listen to and you receive them in your podcatcher as soon as they are placed in the feed.

There is some debate as to where the name "podcasting" comes from.  It is commonly thought that it comes from Apple's iPod which helped popularize podcasts, but others consider it to be a shortened version of Programming On-Demand casting.  Like all legends, there is probably a little truth to both stories.

Podcasts are consumed through RSS aggregators, also known as podcatchers.  The single largest and most used podcatcher is iTunes which has helped with the popularity of podcasts with Apple's iPod media players.  Or was that the other way around?

Podcatchers:

iTunes
Juice
Doppler
Songbird
Podcast Ready
Zune Marketplace
PodNova
Google Reader

For more information, check out the following resources:
Podcasting Article at Wikipedia
Podcasting for Dummies, 2nd Edition by Tee Morris, Chuck Tomasi and Evo Terra

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