Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPod Family, iTS, Software, Podcasting
Leo Laporte wants to rebrand podcasts as 'netcasts' - I agree
If you're a TWiT fan (or a listener of almost any of Leo's other 200 podcasts), you might have heard in the past couple of weeks that he's pushing to change the term 'podcast' to 'netcast.' He's even gone so far as to start using it in his lingo on the shows (at least on the few of his shows I can keep up with), and is looking to trademark the term. Now before you run off and flame TWiT's forums, just hear the man out - because I think he has a good idea.Leo has a couple of reasons for hoping to move the mountain that is now podcasting. The first is Apple's recent bullish attitude towards the terms 'pod' and 'podcast,' as they've been filing their own trademarks and sending nastygrams to companies who get even just a little too close to using these words in their names or products. For a term that was born out of the grassroots web broadcasting movement and coined out of love for Apple's little music player, this understandably felt like a slap in the face to many - including even Leo, who was recently dubbed podcaster of the year. Of course, on the flip side of that coin, I can also understand Apple's interest in protecting their product likeness and the word 'pod.' After all - when else has such a goofy, nerdy word become such an icon? Oh what a twisted web of vocabulary and intellectual property we weave.
Leo's second reason, and one that I feel is a bit more significant, is the implication of the deep roots the term 'podcasting' itself has grown, in light of its relationship to the iPod as a word and a product. Leo laments that to so many of podcasting's new target demographic (i.e. - all the non-early adopters who aren't listening to them, yet), the term 'podcast' itself implies that one needs an iPod to download and listen to them. Of course, it's pretty obvious to us nerds that this assumption couldn't be farther from the truth, but that is exactly Leo's point - he wants to change the term to drop that stigma for 'the other half;' the people who might or might not have heard of podcasting, but ultimately don't know much about it. Podcasting is all about leveling the playing field so anyone with some talent can share it with the world - but in this context, the term 'podcasting' is a bit counterproductive to the effort of breaking down the walls for one and all.
Let's face it - there are a lot of other DAPs out there, and a ton of other products on which one can listen to music. The 'song' wasn't renamed to 'pong' or 'iPong' - maybe it would be better, and more accessible, to adopt a generic term like 'netcast,' so more listeners can join the party.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Brendan said 11:10AM on 10-07-2006
You agree? iDon't
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James Donevan said 11:19AM on 10-07-2006
Let's be realistic. Podcasts have become an international phenomena because of the iPod... no other reason. Obviously the actual content could have been distributed and played without the iPod but their surefire popularity came on the coat tails of the iPod's success. The likelihood that they would enjoy comparable popularity without the iPod is remote... to say the least. LaPorte appears to be looking to line his own pockets (as indicated by his desire to trademark the term) as opposed to altruisticly opening 'netcasts' to a wider market.
Drawing an analogy to songs is farfetched at best. They is little or no comparablity between songs and podcasts. Songs, as a media format, certainly did not rocket to success riding iPods.
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Joey S. said 11:20AM on 10-07-2006
Not going to happen.
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Bruno said 11:20AM on 10-07-2006
Whatever term is envisioned for the new "podcast" it does not need to be trademarked by its creator. I have yet to read any reason Leo would want to trademark "netcast" but the trademark would eventually be lost due to dilution and re-use eby the community and various companies.
Having a trademark means protecting that mark and restricting its use. It's the opposite of what Leo seems to want for the term.
The flipside is that Apple is unlikely to be able to hang on to any simple "podcast" trademark due to its already extended use.
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Ed said 11:21AM on 10-07-2006
I don't agree either, and to be honest while iTunes is the #1 way to download podcasts its not going to change, and by the time it isn't, it'll be too late.
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Geoff Pado said 11:28AM on 10-07-2006
It's a nice idea, seeing how Apple's legal team is acting, but there's one reason it'll always be "podcast" for me.
Podcast rhymes with broadcast. Netcast doesn't. Problem solved.
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Gedeon said 11:34AM on 10-07-2006
Nope, don't agree. The term "NetCast" says nothing about it relating to mobile audio devices such as the iPod and other MP3 devices. A NetCast could very well be a flash game pushed via the web, or a YouTube video that you play on your home computer. Podcast is a known quantity and is recognized by users everywhere as meaning "content you listen to either on your iPod or other portable audio device".
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David Chartier said 11:41AM on 10-07-2006
#7: "The term "NetCast" says nothing about it relating to mobile audio devices"
That's exactly part of the point. They want a more generic, neutral term for these things beCAUSE they shouldn't be tied to one device or a specific usage. Do you *have* to listen to a podcast on a mobile device? Or can you listen to it on your computer? Or can you burn it to a CD and throw it in your car?
The term *pod*cast narrows the perceptions of 'the other half' into thinking they're just for iPods and iTunes, and a more generic name would level that playing field and help new listeners to understand them better.
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Liam said 11:47AM on 10-07-2006
The term for this is called a "Genericized trademark", when a brand name becomes an everyday noun for something. There are heaps of other examples of this. Xerox has become the defacto name for a photocopy, post-it for sticky note paper, Google for a web seach, Band-aid, Asprin, Jacuzzi, Tupperware... the list goes on. They are all copyrighted brand names.
I dont really see us dropping the use of these any time soon and I think podcast is in the same league.
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Smivey said 12:00PM on 10-07-2006
I agree with Gedeon. When I read the term "netcast," I think of broadcasting on the Web, e.g., YouTube or Google Video. You watch or listen to it and then you move on. That said, I think the Apple lawyers are being jackasses for suing people for using the term "pod" in their product names. I just want them to put a stop to everyone using that damn lowercase 'I,' including Apple. It's more than a little dated.
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Maix said 12:02PM on 10-07-2006
I like it this way:
Textfeed for Text like weblogs.
Audiofeed and Videofeed for thins we name podcast today.
Photofeed for Flikr like services.
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Mike said 12:04PM on 10-07-2006
If he wanted everyone to use the term 'netcast', he shouldn't be trademarking it. It's legally incompatable to use a word as a generic term and have it trademarked as representing your product. Whether or not apple likes it, podcast is an ever more generic term, and whatever rights over the word they have now are unlikely to last.
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lucio Bragagnolo said 12:08PM on 10-07-2006
Apple sent "nastygrams" to a company that wanted to trademark "Podcast Ready" and "MyPodder" terms. If Apple didn't, would lose its trademark rights, as per the U.S. law. Furthermore, Apple indeed acted asking various Websites to remove "pod" from their name, but never took any action against the use of the word "podcast".
Maybe Laporte wants to gain direct money advantage from his Netcast idea, as Apple is _not_ doing with the podcast idea. That Apple didn't even invent: the father of podcasts is Dave Winer, who used the term inside his Radio Userland program.
Laporte is looking for easy publicity. Smart man.
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Rob said 12:15PM on 10-07-2006
After all - when else has such a goofy, nerdy word become such an icon?
Good question. Maybe I'll go google it.
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ChrisM70 said 12:16PM on 10-07-2006
Some of the talk is that by changing the name to netcast, people wouldn't be confused about what podcasts are. I think this is kind of silly.
You probably could help a few people understand, but are there that many people who still don't know what a podcast is? Sure, they may not completely understand the whole concept (RSS and such), but most average internet people don't care. They just know that it is content they can get through the "tubes" of their computer. (Senator Ted Stevens' words - not mine)
I am of the belief that at a certain point if people don't understand they probably don't really care to know. Does it help to dumb things down for those who aren't part of "the scene"? I'm sure more people are confused by the term "spam" than they are podcast.
Perhaps is this complaint is more about what every issue eventually boils down to...MONEY.
The people who are confused by the term are computer-illiterate investors and advertisers, and this is hindering people like Leo from getting the $$$ to make Pod(net)casting profitable?
Anyway, I would rather focus on getting a specific term for video blogging since we can't get a consensus on this. I like vidcast (try pushing this word Leo), but think the term "vlog" is awful.
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Fernando said 12:17PM on 10-07-2006
6. "Podcast rhymes with broadcast. Netcast doesn't. Problem solved."
My feelings exactly
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Seroth said 12:54PM on 10-07-2006
I used to think you could only listen to podcasts on an iPod. I like "netcasts" better.
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Brad said 12:58PM on 10-07-2006
This is just Leo trying to get his name out there and become bigger than he is. Podcast sounds better, isn't trademarked and won't be trademarked, and people already have accepted it at the default name. Leo will just f*ck everything up if he gets to the chance to spread this.
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Nathan said 12:59PM on 10-07-2006
This will be a faint memory in 6 months. Its not going anywhere as much as I totally agree with the idea of trying to distance themselves from apple but its too little too late.
I wonder how this will affect Leo's relationship with Stevey J? From what I know they are/were friends.
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Tom Boucher said 1:01PM on 10-07-2006
I think this is the most idiotic over-reaction of a public figure ever. I've been debating stopping my monthly financial support of the TWIT network because of this.
This was a trademark cease and desist letter as required by the law should they want to keep their trademark on iPod. It was at Mypodder. They also mentioned that trademarking anything with podcast in it as related to an electronic device wasn't looked on kindly either.
That's it.
If Leo was the *real* journalist instead of an over active imagination he would have gotten an Apple representative to do an interview and discuss the policy of protecting their trademarks, or something. Instead he starts screaming on every podcast he is on about the evil empire apple because they tried to protect their trademark of electronic device and iPod.
Instead they come up with the lame name of 'netcast' it doesn't roll of the tounge, it sounds dot com bubble-ish and it's just stupid. When I heard 'net casts you love' on the last TWIT Inside the Net I deleted it without listening in disgust.
This is like the uber free software guys screaming NO, ITS GNU/LINUX! every time someone says linux.
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