Podcasting growth a bit flaccid

THE AUDIENCE for podcasts is up about 18 percent year on year, possibly suggesting that even this youthful medium could already use a brush-up.

Podcasting News cites a forthcoming report by Edison for the numbers that seem to be confined to the US if we understand correctly. In total, about 13 percent of respondents said they have tuned in. Eighteen percent growth is not usually to be sniffed at but it's hardly the hockey-stick increase characteristic of young markets that are going somewhere.

To podcast or not to podcast, that is the question. Many current recordings fail for a simple reason -- they're not very good. Reading out the news or drawling on about the release of a multipurpose floppy-disk drive might not cut it, but what will?

The INQUIRER offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to tell us what you think. Should The INQUIRER be pocdasting? Why? And what to include? µ