Individual Entry
nCast
First there were Podcasts, which were mp3 clips passed through RSS and synced with iPods. Since they were mp3s, they could be listened to on any mp3 player and the iPod connection became kind of moot. But the name remained and it annoys me. Others agree. As I posted there, I've seen a few people justify the seemingly iPod connected "Podcast" terminology by saying that the "POD" stands for "Personal/On-Demand". I think they're full of shit.
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It's a stupid name based on a brand that has little to do with that brand and isn't very clear to those new to the terminology.
Then, of course, someone went and coined PSPcasting. Please stop. It's stupid. It's not clear. It's not even easy to say pee-ess-pee-cast. Please stop with the <corporate brand>cast garbage. What's next? A DScast? Zencast? Network Walkmancast?
If you put your rss feeds or mp3s on your Palm, are you Palmcasting? No. You're syncing data. And, in this case, you are syncing syndicated media; this isn't synonymous with broadcasting. Um, synesthesia in a synod in Sydney. Please find a better term for this. Or, just use something simple like "video syncing".
March 21, 2005. General.Comments (10)
I say just call it "Broadcast!" May it be video, audio, text & etc. It's still broadcasting!
If they wish to target a community it is best to use the community name + " " + broadcast. After all we are not the days of limited charaters. Take advantage of it, specially if you are broadcasting audio or video, you should already expect that people would have the bandwidth for the extra charactes! :)
March 21, 2005 01:59 PM. Posted by: dondy.The sad thing is, I do have an iPod (shuffle) and intend to get a PSP. But damned if I'd use the brand names in my lexicon.
And I don't even know if I like the "broadcast" analogy anyway. Broadcasting, to me, is very push. The web is pull. I don't like having the web pushed at me.
March 21, 2005 02:11 PM. Posted by: nowakcast.The internet is "Various Media on Demand" for the reason that you generally have to request internet data before receiving it (unlike a traditional TV broadcast, which is "always on"). It's the same reason we can't call a library "BookCasting."
March 22, 2005 03:27 PM. Posted by: Tony Walsh.So casting implies that it's forced upon you. So does that mean that rape is "SexCasting"?
March 23, 2005 04:20 AM. Posted by: Aubrey.In the days of the IBM Selectric, I guess the paper would consider you as TypeCasting.
Oh, I'm terrible.
March 23, 2005 06:32 AM. Posted by: Walter.No, Aubrey, rape is not "SexCasting," but thanks for inviting me to invoke Godwin's Law on this discussion :)
Broadcasts, although "pushed," can't be forced on any unwilling or unreceptive receiver (i.e. by virtue of the receiver being off or not tuned in to the broadcast). The only always-on receiver I've heard of is from Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.
March 23, 2005 02:02 PM. Posted by: Tony Walsh.So you could only SexCast a nymphomaniac?
I don't like my brain anymore.
March 24, 2005 04:19 AM. Posted by: Aubrey.
A spate of loathsome neologisms (neolojaculations?) seems to be a hallmark of every major marketing campaign these days. There is a sort of repugnant +5 Trendiness aura around products like the PSP and iPod that people seem to gleefully scarf up and repeat endlessly in lieu of actual discourse. Makes me want to wander out into the street with a megaphone and begin TakeYourGoddamnMindsBackFromTheCorporationsYouFuckingRobots-casting.
March 21, 2005 01:42 PM. Posted by: JP.