Field Notes Inside an Integrated Communications Agency

It’s a sweltering Sunday afternoon at the mall. Inside The Apple Store it’s clean, cool and buzzing with hipsters that resemble that “Hi, I’m a Mac” guy. As a Mac user, I stop in occasionally to give props to Jobs and Co. for a brand well done. Sometimes I give mad props if I’m feeling like parting with money.

One of these hipsters glides past me on his cell phone. His conversation caught my ear. At first it sounded idiotic, then I realized prophetic.

“Yeah, I’m here” he says to his friend. “I’m at the iPod store.”

Wow! In a brief second, this yahoo reduced The Revolution of Zen Cool that Apple had been building to a single product.

Was this odd? Do others understand Apple’s greatness? Can you be an Apple user without being an enthusiast, or are we creative folks blinded by pretty stainless steel?

I have decided to raise a point of order with the English language, based on evidence which has recently come to bear. I would like to formally request the immediate and unconditional abolishment of the word 'podcast.'

I have a mondo affinity for words, don't get me wrong. I can write 'mondo' and 'affinity' next to one another in a sentence, and most of you get my meaning. But sometimes, certain junk words can be gummy enough to stick to our regular-usage muscle. Once Merriam-Webster writes them into law, such words can wreak havoc in contexts worldwide for generations.

Sitting around Innovation Station this morning, I was privy to an internal discussion of a client's expectations, as they pertained to a podcast. After several minutes of furious debate, it became clear that 'podcast' brought absolutely no clarity to the scope of the project. In fact, I contend that attaching that handle muddied the waters.

The term podcast was coined in 2004 with the splash of Apple's iPod. The ensuing cultural revolution of handheld entertainment and communication solidified the 'i-' prefix, and '-pod' as the suffix of the compartmentally-hip. At it's inception, the iPod was an mp3 player, designed for portable audio. The term became synonymous with portable, streamable audio cross-media, and soon the podcast was born, a portmanteau of 'iPod' and 'broadcast.' Used to describe organized audio presented over the Web, the podcast separated itself in that one could subscribe to a podcast feed and have installments pulled down to their device automatically. Well that was all great, but in just a couple of rabbit-speed gestational periods, the iPod gave birth to the video iPod, which gave birth to the iPhone...and now you have rich media for nearly all of the senses at your fingertips. And who hasn't heard of RSS by now? You can practically get your groceries via RSS these days. Bloggers everywhere found themselves stumbling over the clunkiness of describing the New Hotness as video podcasts, or rich media podcasts, or vlogs, or...or...

Merriam-Webster gleans the list of words we use every 10 years or so, adding and striking thousands upon thousands of words based on their popularity or obsolescence. The last major revision came in 2003. So you see, folks...WE STILL HAVE TIME. According to M-W (we're tight like that), they receive thousands of letters every year formally petitioning the addition or deletion of all types of words - but they are quick to add that there is no tangible way to directly sway the jury. I would very much like to meet one of these verbal illuminati and invite them to dinner, but that is beside the point. As frustrating as democracy itself, the only way to truly affect change is to encourage others to support you. So today, I implore you. Walk with me. Help our clients understand the Beast. Help us understand our clients. There just is no podcast anymore. There is only the webcast. There is only the blog. Both are the gryphons of our wired world, and no content is off limits. Just add adjectives to describe the nature of your content, and we will build it to perfection.

I am not sure if everyone keeps their fingers on the pulse of iTunes as much as I do, but there is something very exciting, albeit extremely dorky now available.

If you travel to the "iTunes Store" in iTunes and look at the bottom of the left hand nav, you will see a link titled "iTunes U."

Is this an opportunity to listen to the latest in underground indie music for free? Sadly no.

However, iTunes U may be just as exciting (and if you go to iTunes radio you can find plenty of free music).

iTunes U offers users for free what students across the country are paying top dollar for--an Ivy League education. The evolution of the podcast and online class has taken a giant leap with this new offering.

Lectures by top academics and thinkers at universities like Stanford, M.I.T. and Yale are all available for free.

Want to learn about blackholes? Well, the scientist who wrote the book on the subject will walk you through the intricacies of these space anomalies with a series of lectures.

The topics available are endless.

Commencement addresses by top thinkers and entire courses are all available for you to download.

AND, if you invite friends and plan your playlists right you can mix in some party music and relive the entire college experience...

NBC Universal’s decision to not renew its contract with Apple to sell digital downloads on iTunes is a short-term blow to consumer choice but may prove to create more competition and better pricing for digital downloads in the long-term.
 
Apple, through its popular iPod and iTunes franchises, has become the WalMart of online digital content for the masses. Sure, there are other devices and other ways to download video and music, but for those who aren’t tech wizards, Apple’s 1-2 punch of ease-of-use and popular mainstream content makes it the default choice.
 
If media companies want to exercise any say in how their products are marketed and sold online, now is the time to act while consumer purchase behaviors and expectations are being shaped. And, content producers should take a look at the role between traditional distribution channels and consumer packaged goods and how those roles have evolved over time. Dominant distribution channels don’t necessarily bode well for the product manufacturer or for expanding consumer choice.