Opaque Lucidity

The Coming Extinction

I doubt that I'm psychic, but a short podcast I listen to almost every day related to my blog post from yesterday. The podcast is done by David Lawrence, who is a syndicated radio talk show host and actor. The 'cast, which is a little over 10 minutes in length, is recorded immediately after David's radio show. As a result, the topic is often whatever was discussed the last hour of the program, sometimes with the guest still in the studio. I find the 'cast interesting because of the wide variety of guests, from techies to actors.

One night this week, David interviewed a tech blog writer (and God knows there's not enough of those around) and they began discussing the Podcast Awards. These awards are the Emmy/Oscars of the podcasting world and are taken pretty seriously by those of us who love the genre. The only other awards as of now are the Podcast Peer Awards, which are new this year (and I am honored to say I was nominated in two categories, but will win neither of them).

Basically, David and his guest were complaining about the awards because, to paraphrase, "we don't know many of the nominees". At this point, David named his favorite podcasts and how well-produced they are, which is fine. Then came the part that really made me angry: he said that because podcasting is new, people will put up with bad shows. However, as the medium ages, audiences will expect better and better production. Then, I guess, only the "professionals" will remain.

Does this progression sound familiar to anyone? Maybe like the birth and growth of radio? First, it was a hobbyists plaything. Then it became a multi-billion dollar industry. But to say that podcasting will follow suit is to misunderstand why most people listen to podcasts and what they expect.

People turn to podcasts because, as I wrote about yesterday, they are tired of the radio and much of what's on TV. Also, there are no rules in podcasting, so the content can vary wildly, from professional to campy to outright disgusting. And it's on your schedule, not the schedule deemed most profitable by some marketing department.

I stewed for a while about David's comments because, to me, it seemed as if he was saying that only radio-types will or should succeed in podcasting. Then I thought back about something he had said earlier: he's been on the radio for 33 years. That means he is at least 51. Suddenly, it all became clear---he's scared of the world that will be. Poor guy. Time is cruel.

David will be at the Portable Media Expo, as will Kelli and I. I would love to meet him (but I will NOT pay $150 for his private one hour tutoring lessons---give me a break), not to argue with him, but to tell him this (and I know it sounds arrogant):

"Remember this voice, Mr. Lawrence. You'll be hearing it again."