ASSIGNMENT
DEFINITION: Social media are media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media use web-based technologies to transform and broadcast media monologues into social media dialogues. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content."[1] Businesses also refer to social media as consumer-generated media (CGM). Social media utilization is believed[who?] to be a driving force in defining the current time period as the Attention Age[citation needed]. A common thread running through all definitions of social media is a blending of technology and social interaction for the co-creation of value.
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Distinction from industrial media
* 2 Social media and "social authority"
* 3 Examples
o 3.1 Communication
o 3.2 Collaboration/authority building
o 3.3 Multimedia
o 3.4 Reviews and opinions
o 3.5 Entertainment
o 3.6 Brand monitoring
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 Further reading
* 7 External links
[edit] Distinction from industrial media
People gain information, education, news, etc., by electronic media and print media. Social media are distinct from industrial or traditional media, such as newspapers, television, and film. They are relatively inexpensive and accessible to enable anyone (even private individuals) to publish or access information, compared to industrial media, which generally require significant resources to publish information.
One characteristic shared by both social media and industrial media is the capability to reach small or large audiences; for example, either a blog post or a television show may reach zero people or millions of people. The properties that help describe the differences between social media and industrial media depend on the study. Some of these properties are:
1. Reach - both industrial and social media technologies provide scale and enable anyone to reach a global audience.
2. Accessibility - the means of production for industrial media are typically owned privately or by government; social media tools are generally available to anyone at little or no cost.
3. Usability - industrial media production typically requires specialized skills and training. Most social media does not, or in some cases reinvent skills, so anyone can operate the means of production.
4. Recency - the time lag between communications produced by industrial media can be long (days, weeks, or even months) compared to social media (which can be capable of virtually instantaneous responses; only the participants determine any delay in response). As industrial media are currently adopting social media tools, this feature may well not be distinctive anymore in some time.
5. Permanence - industrial media, once created, cannot be altered (once a magazine article is printed and distributed changes cannot be made to that same article) whereas social media can be altered almost instantaneously by comments or editing.
Community media constitute an interesting hybrid of industrial and social media. Though community-owned, some community radios, TV and newspapers are run by professionals and some by amateurs. They use both social and industrial media frameworks.
In his 2006 book, The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom, Yochai Benkler analyzed many of these distinctions and their implications in terms of both economics and political liberty. However, Benkler, like many academics, uses the neologism network economy or "network information economy" to describe the underlying economic, social, and technological characteristics of what has come to be known as "social media".
Andrew Keen criticizes social media in his book The Cult of the Amateur, writing, "Out of this anarchy, it suddenly became clear that what was governing the infinite monkeys now inputting away on the Internet was the law of digital Darwinism, the survival of the loudest and most opinionated. Under these rules, the only way to intellectually prevail is by infinite filibustering."[2]
There are various statistics that account for social media usage and effectiveness for individuals worldwide. Some of the most recent statistics are as follows:
* Social networking now accounts for 11 percent of all time spent online in the US.[3]
* A total of 234 million people age 13 and older in the U.S. used mobile devices in December 2009.[4]
* Twitter processed more than one billion tweets in December 2009 and averages almost 40 million tweets per day.[5]
* Over 25% of U.S. internet page views occurred at one of the top social networking sites in December 2009, up from 13.8% a year before.[6]
[edit] Social media and "social authority"
One of the key components in successful social media marketing implementation is building "social authority". Social authority is developed when an individual or organization establishes themselves as an "expert" in their given field or area, thereby becoming an "influencer" in that field or area. [7]
It is through this process of "building social authority" that social media becomes effective. That is why one of the foundational concepts in social media has become that you cannot completely control your message through social media but rather you can simply begin to participate in the "conversation" in the hopes that you can become a relevant influence in that conversation. [8]
However, this conversation participation must be cleverly executed because while people are resistant to marketing in general, they are even more resistant to direct or overt marketing through social media platforms. This may seem counter-intuitive but is the main reason building social authority with credibility is so important. A marketer can generally not expect people to be receptive to a marketing message in and of itself. In the Edleman Trust Barometer report in 2008, the majority (58%) of the respondents reported they most trusted company or product information coming from "people like me" inferred to be information from someone they trusted. In the 2010 Trust Report, the majority switched to 64% preferring their information from industry experts and academics. According to Inc. Technology's Brent Leary, "This loss of trust, and the accompanying turn towards experts and authorities, seems to be coinciding with the rise of social media and networks."[9][10]
Thus, using social media as a form of marketing has taken on whole new challenges. As the 2010 Trust Study indicates, it is most effective if marketing efforts through social media revolve around the genuine building of authority. Someone performing a "marketing" role within a company must honestly convince people of their genuine intentions, knowledge, and expertise in a specific area or industry through providing valuable and accurate information on an ongoing basis without a marketing angle overtly associated. If this can be done, trust with, and of, the recipient of that information – and that message itself – begins to develop naturally. This person or organization becomes a thought leader and value provider - setting themselves up as a trusted "advisor" instead of marketer. "Top of mind awareness" develops and the consumer naturally begins to gravitate to the products and/or offerings of the authority/influencer. [11][12]
Of course, there are many ways authority can be created – and influence can be accomplished – including: participation in Wikipedia which actually verifies user-generated content and information more than most people may realize; providing valuable content through social networks on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter; article writing and distribution through sites such as Ezine Articles and Scribd; and providing fact-based answers on "social question and answer sites" such as EHow and Yahoo! Answers.
As a result of social media – and the direct or indirect influence of social media marketers – today, consumers are as likely – or more likely – to make buying decisions based on what they read and see in platforms we call "social" but only if presented by someone they have come to trust. That is why a purposeful and carefully designed social media strategy has become an integral part of any complete and directed marketing plan but must also be designed using newer "authority building" techniques.[13]
[edit] Examples
Social media can take many different forms, including Internet forums, weblogs, social blogs, microblogging, wikis, podcasts, pictures, video, rating and social bookmarking. By applying a set of theories in the field of media research (social presence, media richness) and social processes (self-presentation, self-disclosure) Kaplan and Haenlein created a classification scheme for different social media types in their Business Horizons article published in 2010. According to Kaplan and Haenlein there are six different types of social media: Collaborative projects, blogs and microblogs, content communities, social networking sites, virtual game worlds, and virtual communities. Technologies include: blogs, picture-sharing, vlogs, wall-postings, email, instant messaging, music-sharing, crowdsourcing, and voice over IP, to name a few. Many of these social media services can be integrated via social network aggregation platforms.
Examples of social media software applications include:
[edit] Communication
* Blogs: Blogger, ExpressionEngine, LiveJournal, Open Diary, TypePad, Vox, WordPress, Xanga
* Microblogging / Presence applications: FMyLife, Foursquare, Jaiku, Plurk, Posterous, Tumblr, Twitter, Qaiku, Yammer
* Social networking: Cyworld, Facebook, Orkut, LinkedIn, MySpace
* Events: Eventful, Meetup.com, Upcoming
* Information Aggregators: Netvibes, Twine (website)
* Online Advocacy and Fundraising: Causes
[edit] Collaboration/authority building
* Wikis: PBworks, Wetpaint, Wikia, Wikimedia
* Social bookmarking (or social tagging):[14] CiteULike, Delicious, Diigo, Google Reader, StumbleUpon
* Social news: Digg, Mixx, NowPublic, Reddit, Newsvine
* Social navigation: Trapster, Waze [15]
* "Answer Sites": EHow, Yahoo! Answers
[edit] Multimedia
* Photography and art sharing: deviantArt, Flickr, Photobucket, Picasa, SmugMug, Zooomr, BetweenCreation
* Video sharing: sevenload, Viddler, Vimeo, YouTube, Dailymotion, Metacafe, Nico Nico Douga
* Livecasting: Justin.tv, Livestream, OpenCU, Skype, Stickam, Ustream
* Music and audio sharing: ccMixter, Last.fm, MySpace Music, ReverbNation.com, ShareTheMusic, The Hype Machine
* Presentation sharing: scribd
[edit] Reviews and opinions
* Product reviews: epinions.com, MouthShut.com
* Business reviews: Customer Lobby, Yelp, Inc.
* Community Q&A: Askville, WikiAnswers, Yahoo! Answers
[edit] Entertainment
* Media and entertainment platforms: Cisco Eos
* Virtual worlds: Active Worlds, Forterra Systems, Second Life, The Sims Online
* Game sharing: Kongregate, Miniclip
[edit] Brand monitoring
* Social media measurement: Attensity, Statsit, Sysomos, Vocus, Factualz
source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media
2
.Internet radio (also known as web radio, net radio, streaming radio and e-radio) is an audio service transmitted via the Internet. Music streaming on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted broadly through wireless means.
Internet radio involves streaming media, presenting listeners with a continuous stream of audio that cannot be paused or replayed, much like traditional broadcast media; in this respect, it is distinct from on-demand file serving. Internet radio is also distinct from podcasting, which involves downloading rather than streaming. Many Internet radio services are associated with a corresponding traditional (terrestrial) radio station or radio network. Internet-only radio stations are independent of such associations.
Internet radio services are usually accessible from anywhere in the world—for example, one could listen to an Australian station from Europe or America. Some major networks like Clear Channel and CBS Radio in the US, and Chrysalis in the UK restrict listening to in country because of music licensing and advertising concerns.[citation needed] Internet radio remains popular among expatriates and listeners with interests that are often not adequately served by local radio stations (such as eurodance, progressive rock, ambient music, folk music, classical music, and stand-up comedy). Internet radio services offer news, sports, talk, and various genres of music—every format that is available on traditional radio stations.
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Internet radio technology
o 1.1 Streaming
o 1.2 Simulation
* 2 History
o 2.1 US royalty controversy
o 2.2 Popularity
* 3 See also
* 4 References
* 5 Further reading
[edit] Internet radio technology
[edit] Streaming
Streaming technology is used to distribute Internet radio, typically using a lossy audio codec. Streaming audio formats include "MP3, Ogg Vorbis, Windows Media Audio, RealAudio, and HE-AAC (or aacPlus)".[1] Audio data is continuously transmitted serially ("streamed") over the local network or internet in TCP or UDP packets, then reassembled at the receiver and played a second or two later. The delay is called lag, and is introduced at several stages of digital audio broadcasting.[2]
[edit] Simulation
A local turner simulation program includes all the online radios that can also be heard in the air in the city.
[edit] History
A November 1994 Rolling Stones concert was the "first major cyberspace multicast concert." Mick Jagger opened the concert by saying, "I wanna say a special welcome to everyone that's, uh, climbed into the Internet tonight and, uh, has got into the M-bone. And I hope it doesn't all collapse."[3]
On November 7, 1994, WXYC (89.3 FM Chapel Hill, NC USA) became the first traditional radio station to announce broadcasting on the Internet. WXYC used an FM radio connected to a system at SunSite, later known as Ibiblio, running Cornell's CU-SeeMe software. WXYC had begun test broadcasts and bandwidth testing as early as August, 1994.[4] WREK (91.1 FM, Atlanta, GA USA) started streaming on the same day using their own custom software called CyberRadio1. However, unlike WXYC, this was WREK's beta launch and the stream was not advertised until a later date.[5]
In 1995, Progressive Networks released RealAudio as a free download. Time magazine said that RealAudio took "advantage of the latest advances in digital compression" and delivered "AM radio-quality sound in so-called real time."[6] Eventually, companies such as Nullsoft and Microsoft released streaming audio players as free downloads.[7] As the software audio players became available, "many Web-based radio stations began springing up."[7]
In March 1996, Virgin Radio - London, became the first European radio station to broadcast its full program live on the internet[8]. It broadcast its FM signal, live from the source, simultaneously on the Internet 24 hours a day[9].
Internet radio attracted significant media and investor attention in the late 1990s. In 1998, the initial public stock offering for Broadcast.com set a record at the time for the largest jump in price in stock offerings in the United States. The offering price was US$18 and the company's shares opened at US$68 on the first day of trading.[10] The company was losing money at the time and indicated in a prospectus filed with the Securities Exchange Commission that they expected the losses to continue indefinitely.[10] Yahoo! purchased Broadcast.com on July 20, 1999[11] for US$5.7 billion.[12]
[edit] US royalty controversy
In October 1998, the US Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). One result of the DMCA is that performance royalties are to be paid for satellite radio and Internet radio broadcasts in addition to publishing royalties. In contrast, traditional radio broadcasters pay only publishing royalties and no performance royalties.[13]
A rancorous dispute ensued over how performance royalties should be assessed for Internet broadcasters.[12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Some observers said that royalty rates that were being proposed were overly burdensome and intended to disadvantage independent Internet-only stations[13]—that "while Internet giants like AOL may be able to afford the new rates, many smaller Internet radio stations will have to shut down."[16] The Digital Media Association (DiMA) said that even large companies, like Yahoo! Music, might fail due to the proposed rates.[17] Some observers said that some U.S.-based Internet broadcasts might be moved to foreign jurisdictions where US royalties do not apply.[15]
Many of these critics organized SaveNetRadio.org, "a coalition of listeners, artists, labels and webcasters"[14] that opposed the proposed royalty rates. To focus attention on the consequences of the impending rate hike, many US Internet broadcasters participated in a "Day of Silence" on June 26, 2007. On that day, they shut off their audio streams or streamed ambient sound, sometimes interspersed with brief public service announcements. Notable participants included Rhapsody, Live365, MTV, Pandora, and SHOUTcast. Some others that did not participate, like Last.fm, having just been purchased for 280 million dollars by CBS Music Group,[19], stated that they did not want to punish their listeners.
SoundExchange, representing supporters of the increase in royalty rates, pointed out the fact that the rates were flat from 1998 through 2005 (see above), without even being increased to reflect cost-of-living increases. They also declared that if internet radio is to build businesses from the product of recordings, the performers and owners of those recordings should receive fair compensation. Opponents[who?] argued that the purchase price paid for Last.FM reflected that it was primarily a social network service that included a radio service.
On May 1, 2007, SoundExchange came to an agreement with certain large webcasters regarding the minimum fees that were modified by the determination of the Copyright Royalty Board. While the CRB decision imposed a $500 per station or channel minimum fee for all webcasters, certain webcasters represented through DiMA negotiated a $50,000 "cap" on those fees with SoundExchange.[20] However, DiMA and SoundExchange continue to negotiate over the per song, per listener fees.
SoundExchange has also offered alternative rates and terms to certain eligible small webcasters, that allows them to calculate their royalties as a percentage of their revenue or expenses, instead of at a per performance rate.[21] To be eligible, a webcaster had to have revenues of less than $1.25 million dollars a year and stream less than 5 million "listener hours" a month (or an average of 6830 concurrent listeners).[22] These restrictions would disqualify independent webcasters like AccuRadio, DI.FM, Club977 and others from participating in the offer, and therefore many small commercial webcasters continue to negotiate a settlement with SoundExchange.[23]
An August 16, 2008 Washington Post article reported that although Pandora was "one of the nation's most popular Web radio services, with about 1 million listeners daily...the burgeoning company may be on the verge of collapse" due to the structuring of performance royalty payment for webcasters. "Traditional radio, by contrast, pays no such fee. Satellite radio pays a fee but at a less onerous rate, at least by some measures." The article indicated that "other Web radio outfits" may be "doom[ed]" for the same reasons.[24]
On September 30, 2008, the United States Congress passed "a bill that would put into effect any changes to the royalty rate to which [record labels and web casters] agree while lawmakers are out of session."[25] Although royalty rates are expected to decrease, many webcasters nevertheless predict difficulties generating sufficient revenue to cover their royalty payments.[25]
In January 2009, the US Copyright Royalty Board announced that "it will apply royalties to streaming net services based on revenue."[26]
[edit] Popularity
In 2003, revenue from online streaming music radio was US$49 million. By 2006, that figure rose to US$500 million.[17]
A February 21, 2007 "survey of 3,000 Americans released by consultancy Bridge Ratings & Research" found that "[a]s much as 19% of U.S. consumers 12 and older listen to Web-based radio stations." In other words, there were "some 57 million weekly listeners of Internet radio programs. More people listen to online radio than to satellite radio, high-definition [sic] radio, podcasts, or cell-phone-based radio combined."[17][27]
An April 2008 Arbitron survey[28] showed that, in the US, more than one in seven persons aged 25–54 years old listen to online radio each week.[29] In 2008, 13 percent of the American population listened to the radio online, compared with 11 percent in 2007.
Internet radio functionality is also built into many dedicated Internet radio devices, which give an FM like receiver user experience.
source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_radio
3.
A webcast is a media file distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand. Essentially, webcasting is “broadcasting” over the Internet.
The largest "webcasters" include existing radio and TV stations, who "simulcast" their output, as well as a multitude of Internet only "stations". The term webcasting usually refers to non-interactive linear streams or events. Rights and licensing bodies offer specific "webcasting licenses" to those wishing to carry out Internet broadcasting using copyrighted material.
Webcasting is also used extensively in the commercial sector for investor relations presentations (such as Annual General Meetings), in E-learning (to transmit seminars), and for related communications activities. However, webcasting does not bear much, if any, relationship to web conferencing, which is designed for many-to-many interaction.
The ability to webcast using cheap/accessible technology has allowed independent media to flourish. There are many notable independent shows that broadcast regularly online. Often produced by average citizens in their homes they cover many interests and topics. Webcasts relating to computers, technology, and news are particularly popular and many new shows are added regularly.
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Origins
* 2 Examples
* 3 Wedcast
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 External links
[edit] Origins
"Webcasting" was first publicly described and presented by Brian Raila of GTE Laboratories at InterTainment '89, 1989, held in New York City, USA. Raila recognized that a viewer/listener need not download the entirety of a program to view/listen to a portion thereof, so long as the receiving device ("client computer") could, over time, receive and present data more rapidly than the user could digest the same. Raila used the term "buffered media" to describe this concept.
Raila was joined by James Paschetto of GTE Laboratories to further demonstrate the concept. Paschetto was singularly responsible for the first workable prototype of streaming media, which Raila presented and demonstrated at the Voice Mail Association of Europe 1995 Fall Meeting of October, 1995, in Montreux, Switzerland. Alan Saperstein (Visual Data, now known as Onstream Media (Nasdaq:ONSM), was the first company to feature video webcasting in June 1993 with HotelView, a travel library of two minute videos featuring thousands of hotel properties worldwide.
On November 7, 1994, WXYC, the college radio station of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill became the first radio station in the world to broadcast its signal over the internet.[1][2]
The term webcasting was coined (in the early/mid 1990s) when webcast/streaming pioneers Mark Cuban (Audionet), Howard Gordon (Xing Technologies), William Mutual (ITV.net), Craig Schmieder (Applied Media Resources) and Peggy Miles (InterVox Communications) got together with a community of webcasters to pick a term to describe the technology of sending audio and video on the Net...that might make sense to people. The term netcasting was a consideration, but one of the early webcast community members owned a company called NetCast, so that term was not used, seeking a name that would not be branded to one company. Discussions were also conducted about the term with the National Association of Broadcasters for their books - Internet Age Broadcaster I and II, written by Peggy Miles and Dean Sakai.[citation needed]
The actual word "webcast" was coined[original research?] by Daniel Keys Moran in his 1988 novel The Armageddon Blues:
“ ... DataWeb News had done an in-depth on it not two weeks ago, and tourists had been trekking up into the New York hills ever since the webcast. ”
—page 191 of the Bantam paperback
Translated versions including Subtitling are now possible using SMIL Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language.
[edit] Examples
Virtually all the major broadcasters have a webcast of their output, from the BBC to CNN to Al Jazeera to UNTV in television to Radio China, Vatican Radio, United Nations Radio and the World Service in radio.
One of the earliest examples of a webcast occurred on August 13, 1998 in what is generally believed to be the first webcast wedding, between Alan K'necht and Carrie Silverman in Toronto Canada.[3][4]
The earliest webcast equivalent of an online concert was by Glasgow band Travis who on May 28, 1999 performed a setlist from their recent album The Man Who in a local internet cafe on Sauchiehall Street.[5]
A notable webcast took place in September 1999 to launch NetAid, a project to promote Internet use in the world's poorest countries. Three high profile concerts were to be broadcast simultaneously on the BBC, MTV and over the Internet: a London concert at Wembley Stadium featuring the likes of Robbie Williams and George Michael; a New York concert featuring Bono of U2 and Wyclef Jean; and a Geneva concert.
More recently, Live8 (AOL) claimed around 170,000 concurrent viewers (up to 400 Kbit/s) and the BBC received about the same (10 Gbit/s) on the day of the 7 July 2005 bombings in London. The growth of webcast traffic has roughly doubled, year on year, since 1995 and is directly linked to broadband penetration.
The first free Sunday morning webcast of a live worship service in the United States was initiated in January 2005 at Wekiva Presbyterian Church of Longwood, FL; this webcast ministry is ongoing.
Connecting Media was one of the first companies to do live webcasting using a special IFP Van (Internet Field Production) dedicated to webcasting.
Today, webcasts are being used more frequently and by novice users. Live webcasts enable the viewing of presentations, business meetings, and seminars etc. for those that telecommute rather than attend. Such sites offer live broadcasting as an affordable alternative to attending physical public speaking events expanding the viewing audience to anyone that has an internet connection. Other live webcasts are held completely online independent of any offline component. Webcast content network sites can enable users to find content that interests them by searching the site.
Private users can use social webcast forums such as YouTube or commercial webcast forums such as BrightTALK. Usually no sophisticated technical experience or equipment is required and content (usually limited to 10 or 30 minutes) can simply be uploaded.
Live sporting events, both local and national, have also quickly become frequent webcast subjects. With regard to smaller events such as Little League, amateur sports, small college sports, and high school sports, webcasting allows these events to have full audio or video coverage online when they may not be able to book standard radio or TV time. Websites like Meridix Webcast Network, Texas Sports Radio Network, SportsJuice, and others allow local schools, teams, and broadcasters to produce their own webcasts, which also have the advantage of being accessible to anyone with an internet connection (i.e. relatives several states away), unlike the range and market limitations of terrestrial radio and TV.
[edit] Wedcast
A wedcast is a webcast of a wedding.[6][7] It allows family and friends of the couple to watch the wedding in real time on the Internet. It is sometimes used for weddings in exotic locations, such as Cancun and the Riviera Maya]] Hawaii or the Caribbean, for which it is very expensive or difficult for people to travel to see the wedding in person.[6]
Webcasting a funeral is also a service provided by some funeral homes. Although it has been around for a decade, cheaper broadband, the financial strain of travel, and deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan have all lead to a recent increase in this phenomenon.[8]
source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webcasting
4.
A podcast (or non-streamed webcast) is a series of digital media files (either audio or video) that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication. The word usurped webcast in common vernacular, due to rising popularity of the iPod and the innovation of web feeds.
The mode of delivery differentiates podcasting from other means of accessing media files over the Internet, such as direct download, or streamed webcasting. A list of all the audio or video files currently associated with a given series is maintained centrally on the distributor's server as a web feed, and the listener or viewer employs special client application software known as a podcatcher that can access this web feed, check it for updates, and download any new files in the series. This process can be automated so that new files are downloaded automatically. Files are stored locally on the user's computer or other device ready for offline use, giving simple and convenient access to episodic content.[1][2] Commonly used audio file formats are Ogg Vorbis and MP3.
Academics at the Community, Journalism & Communication Research group at the University of Texas at Austin in the USA are proposing a four-part definition of a podcast: A podcast is a digital audio or video file that is episodic; downloadable; programme-driven, mainly with a host and/or theme; and convenient, usually via an automated feed with computer software.[3]
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Name
* 2 History
* 3 Trademarks
o 3.1 Trademark applications
o 3.2 Apple trademark protections
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 External links
[edit] Name
The term "podcasting" was first mentioned by Larry King in The Guardian newspaper in a February 2004 article, along with other proposed names for the new medium.[4] It is a portmanteau of the words "pod"— from the name of Apple's portable media player, iPod—and "broadcasting".[2] The name may be misleading, as despite the etymology it has never been necessary to use an iPod, or, indeed, any other form of portable media player, to use podcasts; the content can be accessed using any computer that can play media files.[5] Use of the term "podcast" predates the addition of native support for podcasting to the iPod, or to Apple's iTunes software.[6] To avoid a term suggestive of "iPod", some use the term netcast instead of podcast, such as the TWiT.tv podcaster Leo Laporte.[7] A backronym has been posited where podcast stands for "Personal On Demand broadCAST".[8][9][10]
[edit] History
Please help improve this article by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (May 2009)
Main article: History of podcasting
Podcasting began to catch hold with the public in late 2004, though during the 1998–2001 dot-com era there were multiple "podcasts" done by major companies, such as Real Networks and ESPN.com.[citation needed] Many individuals and groups[who?] contributed to the emergence and popularity of podcasts. Adam Curry is credited with coming up with the idea to automate the delivery and syncing of textual content to portable audio players[11], and the first application to make this process feasible was iPodderX, developed by August Trometer and Ray Slakinski.
In June of 2005, Apple released iTunes 4.9 with native support for podcasts. While this made receiving podcasts more convenient, it effectively ended advancement of the podcast medium by independent developers. To add to the cooling factor, Apple issued Cease and Desist orders to many podcast application developers and service providers for using the term "iPod" or "Pod" in the name of their product.
[edit] Trademarks
The logo used by Apple to represent Podcasting
[edit] Trademark applications
On February 10, 2005, Shae Spencer Management LLC of Fairport, New York filed a trademark application to register podcast for an "online prerecorded radio program over the internet". On September 9, 2005, the United States Patent and Trademark Office rejected the application, citing Wikipedia's podcast entry as describing the history of the term. The company amended their application in March, 2006, but the USPTO rejected the amended application as not sufficiently differentiated from the original. In November, 2006, the application was marked as abandoned.[12]
As of September 20, 2005, known trademarks that attempted to capitalize on podcast include: Podcast Realty, GuidePod, PodGizmo, Pod-Casting, MyPod, Podvertiser, Podango, ePodcast, PodCabin, Podcaster, PodcastPeople, PodShop, PodKitchen, Podgram, GodPod and Podcast.[13] By February 2007, there had been 24 attempts to register trademarks containing the word "PODCAST" in United States, but only "PODCAST READY" from Podcast Ready, Inc. was approved. [14]
[edit] Apple trademark protections
On September 26, 2006, it was reported that Apple Computer started to crack down on businesses using the acronym "POD", in product and company names. Apple sent a cease-and-desist order that week to Podcast Ready, Inc., which markets an application known as "myPodder".[15] Lawyers for Apple contended that the term "pod" has been used by the public to refer to Apple's music player so extensively that it falls under Apple's trademark cover.[16] It was speculated that such activity was part of a bigger campaign for Apple to expand the scope of its existing iPod trademark, which included trademarking "IPODCAST", "IPOD", and "POD".[17] On November 16, 2006, the Apple Trademark Department stated that Apple does not object to third party usage of "the generic term" "podcast" to refer to podcasting services and that Apple does not license the term. However, no statement was made whether Apple believes they hold rights to it
source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting
