A couple of times recently I have mentioned a great product that is about to launch. The product is a high-end, all-inclusive podcasting course called My Podcasting Tutor. The launch date hasn’t yet been set, but if you sign up for the email list you’ll receive a great introductory email course and be notified when the big product launches.
That said, I need your help. You see, we are trying to come up with a definitive, concise definition of the word PODCAST. We’re looking to write what Mark Joyner would call a Touchstone. Here is the current working definition:
“A podcast is an audio or video file uploaded to the internet to share with people who are then able to download and listen to it at their convenience.”
So what do you think? Is there anything essential missing? What would make the definition clearer or more concise? It still seems a bit awkward to me and I’d really like your feedback.
Any comments are greatly, greatly appreciated!! So appreciated, in fact, that I’ll send each person who comments a free version of Peter Tremayne’s ebook Zero to Fifty in 30 Days. The e-book is a 6-step plan that shows you how to start with nothing and start making $50 a day within 30 days. It’s a great little system and I know you’ll really enjoy it.
Please, let’s get those comments rolling in…
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hmmm… what about…
A podcast is an audio or video file, which is uploaded to the internet so that it can be shared with people, who are then able to download and listen to it at their convenience, on a pc or portable media player.
just a few commas to break it up a bit. a few more linking words. and mention of the possibility of listening to / viewing the file using a portable device.
was also trying to come up with a way to inject “view it” after “listen to it” to take video files into account as well. but was stumped. :O
that’s all i could come up with. feel free to ignore everything here though.
best of luck coming up with the touchstone. 
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You could just simplify it a little:
“A podcast is an audio or video file which can be downloaded from the internet and played back using a computer or MP3 player.”
If you’re downloading the file then it goes without saying that you can play it back “at [your] convenience.”
It probably needs to clarify though that it’s not just *any* audio or video, but generally involves some sort of commentary -like a radio program.
Kouji - great advice. Especially adding “view it” to include videos.
Mindy - good point. it is a bit redundant to point out that it is at their convenience. And I like the idea of comparing it to a radio-type program.
Thanks guys, your ebooks are on the way.
Sara
I think there’s something essential missing … and even if I’m fascinated with linguistics, I’m usually not this nit-picky. But I think in this case, you need to include how it’s used in the definition. By the definition you have, above, any music file on any bit torrent network would be a podcast … I don’t think any ‘casters would agree.
I’d add something to the definition to explain the word itself. “[...], usually in MP3 format” might be a nice start. That tells savvy users it will work on an iPod, and explains half the word. The ‘cast or ‘casting part, I’d connect somehow to talk radio. At least that’s what it reminds me of.
Podcasting is essentially audio blogging; I’m not sure how you’re going to put that into words and sound eloquent. But that’s really the most important thing to communicate in the definition.
Wikipedia’s introduction starts this way … and is public domain.
A podcast is a series of audio or video digital-media files which is distributed over the Internet by syndicated download, through Web feeds, to portable media players and personal computers. Though the same content may also be made available by direct download or streaming, a podcast is distinguished from other digital-media formats by its ability to be syndicated, subscribed to, and downloaded automatically when new content is added.
Like the term broadcast, podcast can refer either to the series of content itself or to the method by which it is syndicated; the latter is also called podcasting. The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster.
The term is a portmanteau of the words “iPod” and “broadcast”, the Apple iPod being the brand of portable media player for which the first podcasting scripts were developed (see history of podcasting). Such scripts allow podcasts to be automatically transferred from a personal computer to a mobile device after they are downloaded. As more devices other than iPods became able to synchronize with podcast feeds, the term was redefined by some parties as a backronym for “Personal On Demand broadCASTING”.
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received the ebook. thanks very much.
kind of you.
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Cheers for the ebook! What wording are you going with?
Nice post. The idea of radio-type program is great.
Agreed with Mindy above…I’d add the .mp3 text just so that those that are unfamiliar with the concept know what type of file they are downloading.
While it goes a bit beyond the definition, maybe you want to give an example of how podcasts are used and more importantly found. I’d toss an iTunes example in there for the added ‘Oh yeah…ok…i think i’ve heard of it’ lightbulb moment.
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Had nightmares with podcasting, I mean uploading an mp3 to your server is one thing (but again, depends on your hosts limits) but all that enclosure, xml file stuff, that’s where it gets scary,
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“a podcast is something I wished I was able to find the time to put out”
there you go! LOL
I really would like to podcast because it would be like having my own talk show. cool stuff and I look forward to the ebook too.
AL
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Radio-type program is great, i received a ebook.. thanks man
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Radio-type is really program great. Thank you so much for the great share.
I think the emphasis should be on the producers, ie the casters, not the means with which the product will be viewed or listened to. It is a specific way of publishing content.
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After ‘….listen to it at their convenience.” I was going to say that you should emphasize ‘ ‘–on a variety of portable devices or a desktop computer.’
But then I thought that sometimes sacrificing specificity for something catchier is an idea– as Apple did with the iPod, remember? ‘A thousand songs in your pocket.’ - or something like that…
How about: ‘Information at the speed of you. Download anything. Listen anywhere.’
I don’t know if a slogan like this really suits your purposes; it’s just an idea.
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Received the ebook. Thanks very much.
I would define a podcast as a video series with a general release pattern. Getting more specific than that is not quite doable when podcasts tend to just be videos for the most part.
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It’s a good program.. thanks for sharing..
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Yes! It is really amazing program. This is what I have been looking for. Thanks a lot.
Your podcast release is good and also fortunate. This is the program I was actually looking for. Thanks a lot.
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Excellent program! Glad that I found your site. Thank you!
I don’t really have much trust in make money online ebooks anymore. I’ve read many of them and to me they seem to be a waste of money. Just my 2c.
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