» Podcasting is dead. Long Live… uh…Something Like Podcasting Dvorak Uncensored: General interest observations and true web-log.

# 1 Eideard said, on April 24th, 2008 at 10:55 am

John, as long as your dulcet tones keep rolling through my speakers, I’m OK with the name.

# 2 andy said, on April 24th, 2008 at 10:55 am

i don’t know dvorak, you might be too close to this one. i think there’s name-intrigue-fatigue on the rise.

# 3 dougwalk said, on April 24th, 2008 at 10:59 am

Sure does sound like a WEB 2.0 name and really doesn’t make me think podcasts. But, whatever works.

# 4 camarobh said, on April 24th, 2008 at 11:03 am

The name isn’t important to me, its all about the content. If the name change helps with business (per Adam on DSC 750) then so be it

# 5 dstrack said, on April 24th, 2008 at 11:04 am

[Duplicate comment. - Deleted. - ed.]

# 6 dstrack said, on April 24th, 2008 at 11:04 am

I think the name change is kinda silly… Mevio just sounds like another Web 2.0 startup. I would wait for Web 3.0 – that’s gonna be the one that sticks! Having said that… Long live Mevio!!!

# 7 mike said, on April 24th, 2008 at 11:07 am

I saw the creepy video from Ron Bloom talking about the name change, saying that podcasting has an amateurish connotation as part of the reasoning, if I were a podshow podcaster I’d be a bit put off by that considering its the content that has made the network. Every since being exposed by Keith and the Girl, podshow’s leadership has always struck me as a combination of classless, clueless, and condescending. This name change doesn’t really change how I feel.

# 8 McCullough said, on April 24th, 2008 at 11:08 am

Apple will be sad.

# 9 Dave said, on April 24th, 2008 at 11:11 am

To me MEVIO doesn’t suggest anything, unless you happen to be in the know. The slogan is a bit up itself too. At least there was the word “Show”in the old name, so you have some idea of what the content is.
Big companies like the BBC are using the term Podcast and many people are only just finding out what they are, to change it for something else now(after four years)it’s just going to confuse people further.

# 10 Juiceuser said, on April 24th, 2008 at 11:12 am

John I use Juice to download my podcasts, I have the No Agenda feed added to it, last night it downloaded all of the No Agenda episodes, I thought it was a problem with Juice, I looked on the Juice forum they said it was a problem with the feed that causes this.

Here is the link to the issue:
http://www.juicereceiver.com/support/viewtopic.php?t=1391

Leo had the same problem with some of his feeds, he was able to fixed it.

Needless to say I had to remove the feed from Juice, I hope Adam can get this straightened out, It after all is one of my favorite “podcasts”.

# 11 radio-g said, on April 24th, 2008 at 11:13 am

Mevio sounds like a Korean sub-compact car with a 40hp engine that only sells in Europe.

Might catch on though. It’s all about image building.

# 12 platypibri said, on April 24th, 2008 at 11:14 am

I never understood the confusion. It’s podcast, like broadcast, only with a smaller scope.
I think the name sounds flashy, but ultimately meaningless, which means it’s VERY Web 2.0. Still, best of luck.

# 13 pjakobs said, on April 24th, 2008 at 11:16 am

sounds indifferent, irrelevant, web 2.0. Like any of those 200 other web 2.0 names that will soon be forgotten. Not even with a twist like flickr.

pj

# 14 petri dish said, on April 24th, 2008 at 11:19 am

“since most of these productions are played on computers or burned to CD’s with only perhaps a third actually downloaded onto music players”

You’ve spotted another trend John! People are moving from listening to stuff on iPods to listening to CDs.

# 15 Ikon said, on April 24th, 2008 at 11:26 am

I think there’s going to have to be a lot of publicity about the new name. The issue is to attract new listeners/viewers. This name doesn’t suggest webcasts at all. The publicity will be needed to bring enough attention so that Google brings up Mevio anytime someone searches for webcast, podcast, or netcast, even tv, radio, or video. If that happens, Mevio will become synonymous with what we now call podcasts.

# 16 Lun Esex said, on April 24th, 2008 at 11:44 am

@McCullough

Apple won’t really care. How much impact did the name “Podshow” ever have on the sales of iPods? For that matter, the vast majority of iPods sold have probably never had any podcasts loaded on them, so even awareness of the term “podcast” has had very marginal effect on sales of iPods (how many people can you imagine ever thought “I want to check out this ‘podcasting’ thing, so that means I’ll have to get an iPod”? Could there be a better example of the tail wagging the dog?).

Anyway, the hot Apple “i” product name is now “iPhone.” They made a fully conscious decision when they DIDN’T name it the “iPod Phone,” or “iPod Mobile” or something else stupid like that to try to ride on the “iPod” name.

The names and terms “Podshow” and “podcast” can completely disappear, and “iPod” will still be synonymous with “portable digital music/media player.”

# 17 Zybch said, on April 24th, 2008 at 11:45 am

What a stupid change. As has been mentioned above, Mevio sounds exactly the same as a raft of ‘me too’ web 2.0 sites, and it means absolutely nothing unless you’re in the know.
Which idiot makes these stupid decisions??

# 18 FanWaver said, on April 24th, 2008 at 11:46 am

Vimeo or Mevio.

It’s just a jumble, squats on vimeo and lends to more head-scratching.

Sorry, just cranky.

# 19 Brian Megilligan said, on April 24th, 2008 at 11:49 am

I don’t know, if this were truly a 2.0 name, as others have suggested it would be more like “Mever” except the second “e” would be removed to look like “Mevr.”

Either way, Mevio or whatever it’s called does not say anything to me about what it is. It sounds more like a service that you use than a production you consume.

Plus, I think there’s something more you’re not telling us.

# 20 pat said, on April 24th, 2008 at 11:54 am

Being an older fart “pod casting” always brought to mind s/g from invasion of the body snatchers.

# 21 Dave Johnston said, on April 24th, 2008 at 11:57 am

It’s a better – if slightly odd – name. The pod moniker has always felt slightly “off” to me, but I can’t quite put my finger on why. Branding is such a dart throwing contest.

Love No Agenda…keep it up.

# 22 John C Dvorak said, on April 24th, 2008 at 11:58 am

Haha..Petri. The fact is that most people who listen in their car still burn CD’s. I do! It’s retro but it works. And yes, it is a counter trend, I got the gist of your needling. I think I made myself clear that I do not personally have a problem with the name podcasting.

And, yeah it does sound a little like a car name, so does Flickr and a hundred other names.

# 23 terry_l said, on April 24th, 2008 at 12:01 pm

That explains why my “mevio”-catcher downloaded every episode of NoAgenda again this morning and filled up the SD card they were being saved to.

I saw the change of the directory of the feed and assumed Mr Curry had been messing about…

Call them what you want, and call the company what you like, it may take a while for most people already using “pod”-cast/catchers to change what they call them – it doesn’t really matter as long as they continue to be produced and be entertaining.

# 24 brendal said, on April 24th, 2008 at 12:17 pm

They totally missed it…shoulda been:

JOHNVIO

# 25 kidJava said, on April 24th, 2008 at 12:17 pm

Wasn’t Mevio the ancient Greek God of incoherence?

# 26 jeffsawyer said, on April 24th, 2008 at 12:24 pm

Lin Esex: last I checked, my iPhone has an iPod button right at the bottom of the home screen. Inside of this they have a podcasts section, music and other stuff. While I agree with some of your points, I disagree that Apple dropped the iPod from the name of their phone as a way to phase out the naming convention. Afterall, they released an iPod touch shortly after the iPhone. Typed from my iPhone. Oh and I agree with everyone else that podxasring and the term is just now finally getting more understood by the general public… Good luck podshow or whatever u call yourself now.

# 27 andy said, on April 24th, 2008 at 12:26 pm

Step 1: brainstorming
Step 2: is the name registered? if so, go back to Step 1
Step 3: rationalize

# 28 Grant said, on April 24th, 2008 at 12:28 pm

My personal opinion is that Mevio is a weak, generic sounding name. Podshow wasn’t all that strong either, but at least it had considerable brand awareness in the podcasting crowd. Mevio sounds like a dozen other web things.

# 29 DavidSim said, on April 24th, 2008 at 12:30 pm

Shockingly awful name. Mevio isn’t even easy to say and is meaningless to just about everyone.

Here in the UK the term “Podcast” is pretty widely known, thanks to promotion by the BBC. Perhaps the reason why Podshow hasn’t been amazingly successful had nothing to do with the name and a lot to do with the site is virtually unusable. I’ve tried getting content directly from the site and ended up searching Google for a stand alone feed. In one case, I gave up entirely.

# 30 Ricky Afganistan said, on April 24th, 2008 at 12:37 pm

love tech5 and no agenda. I must say that I think the mevio name change shows the chinks in the podshow armor, and their laundry. I loved Podshow at first. Then Adam broke all tha promises he made on DSC. Just another big company. I will always like Dorak’s shows, but I hope Mevio sinks like Podshow.

# 31 Anonymous Coward said, on April 24th, 2008 at 12:41 pm

Successful Business Tips:
1. Choose a name
2. Establish “brand” for chosen name
3. Change name and lose what you built
4. Have a Guinness, you’re Brilliant!

Oh, and @#9 Juiceuser …

RSS is only half of the darn podcasting setup (for consumers). Why should they bother to not break the RSS feed? Cripes!

John, if you’re a VP at Mevio, push to fire all the programmers. Its not hard to overhaul a site and keep the feeds consistent.

# 32 GigG said, on April 24th, 2008 at 12:43 pm

Too many syllables. Any more than 2 is too many.

Even the internet didn’t catch on until it was called “The Net.”

I don’t record TV on my Digital Video Recorder I record it on my TiVo even if the brand isn’t really TiVo.

The only reason VCRs got away with three syllables is that we had more free time back then.

# 33 Rags said, on April 24th, 2008 at 12:49 pm

I listen to Leo a lot. He says podcast much more often than he says netcast. I think he’s about given up on that little war.

# 34 McCullough said, on April 24th, 2008 at 1:00 pm

#27.”Perhaps the reason why Podshow hasn’t been amazingly successful had nothing to do with the name and a lot to do with the site is virtually unusable. I’ve tried getting content directly from the site and ended up searching Google for a stand alone feed. In one case, I gave up entirely.”

You definitely have a point about the site being non-intuitive. It took me some time to figure out how to simply downland the mp3. Sorry John, it was a mess.

# 35 andy said, on April 24th, 2008 at 1:01 pm

i love leo, but he gets onto the weirdest things. remember how he “left” twitter? he’s now discusses twitter for literally months. history may very well write TWiT as a footnote twitter and not vice-versa.

# 36 andy said, on April 24th, 2008 at 1:09 pm

somehow i don’t buy the supposed success of podshow.

has anyone listened to curry’s daily source code? what the hell IS that?

one last thing: autoplay should be deprecated

# 37 Andrew said, on April 24th, 2008 at 1:19 pm

I’m getting pretty sick of these silly, made-up web 2.0 names. Hulu was about the last one I was able to stomach.

# 38 RBG said, on April 24th, 2008 at 1:23 pm

I believe “podcast” is here for keeps. And without citing any references, I believe the phenomena is still in its explosive growth stage. Certainly the public would have absolutely no clue what you are talking about if you went to anything other than “podcast” as a description, even if you could now get to a consensus. It’s just way too late to change. And still way too early for podcasting to be universally useful. “Podcast” is now where the Internet was when it was just gathering steam.

Of course the “pod” in podcast no longer has any exclusive connection to the iPod. (I recall Apple even disavowing podcasting in its first stages.)

Still, changing the name from PodShow to, what was it, Melvin? could be a good idea in the sense that a unique name is always a good thing in marketing, especially for differentiation purposes. That said, I believe a great product would eventually triumph even if it was called “Snerd.” Well, if the distribution, price & promotion were there too.

But that said, it always helps when the product name gives strong clues as to what it is about. “Mevio” barely does that. And if the point was to get away from “Pod” as everyone else uses, jumping into the I, You, Me thing might not be much better.

If PodShow wasn’t working, maybe it’s for the same reason you might not want to watch anything called “BroadShow” in broadcasting.

All of which reminds me of the searing disdain I have for media businesses that think putting the word “Digital” in their name gives them an edge. Because before you know it, you’ve got the old days of NBC – oooh, in “Living Color” no less.

But I’m sure there is/was concern about the $ and efforts already made to establish “PodShow” as a brand. What I’ve always thought about logos is that just about the time you are getting tired of your logo, your market is just starting to clue into it.

A lot of the negative connotations with “podcast” will be sorted out in the future in the same way Toyota and Honda and even FM radio went from laughable junk to mainstream. The democratic nature of the podcast will always ensure there will be cream at the top. Eventually it will be understood that this is one of podcasting’s strengths.

fwiw,
RBG

# 39 M Garrett said, on April 24th, 2008 at 1:29 pm

Sounds like a pretty stupid web 2.0 name to me.

# 40 Eric Susch said, on April 24th, 2008 at 1:38 pm

My thoughts on this:

http://tinyurl.com/67lqos

[Please use TinyUrl.com for overly long URLs. - ed.]

# 41 kevlar said, on April 24th, 2008 at 1:44 pm

You can call it “me-casting” instead of podcasting

# 42 terry_l said, on April 24th, 2008 at 1:46 pm

Just to add to what a couple of others have said, I have never been able to find anything on the PodShow (or BTPodShow here in the UK since the deal with BT – talk about brand corruption) web site. I have always had to google and find the RSS feed and subscribe to that to get the shows.

I’ll admit my “mevio”-catcher of choice is a variant of BasPodder. Yes I’m a Linux user and it’s a small shell script that is actually kept on the SD cards for my Nokia N800 and the USB stick MP3 (and .ogg) player (from Samsung). My modified BashPodder may be simple but it’s worked very well for years (unless someone messes about with the RSS feed).

Anyway, I don’t “get” the PodShow (now Mevio, although in the UK it redirects to btpodshow still) site and always give up before I find anything of interest. I have much more luck with PodcastAlley, it’s not great but I can find stuff.

# 43 Gomem said, on April 24th, 2008 at 2:09 pm

Here in the UK we are still seeing Mevio as ‘BTPodshow’, also domains which refer to Mevio redirect to BTPodshow, e.g. tech5.mevio.com comes up as tech5.btpodshow.com on UK based browsers. I guess BT, Mevio’s UK partner is still happy with the Podshow name, or are we going to be seeing a change here ?

# 44 Hubec said, on April 24th, 2008 at 2:31 pm

Do you realize the new name is an anagram for “movie”? Not a good or a bad thing, it’s just that it jumped out at me right away and you didn’t mention it in the reasoning behind the name.

# 45 Mark said, on April 24th, 2008 at 2:48 pm

Way too many vowels to be Web 2.0 Maybe that will be the trend for Web 3.0, more vowels than consonants!

# 46 someone said, on April 24th, 2008 at 3:10 pm

Meh, I think if any other company tried this you’d complain about it.

Whatever, call the company what you like, it’ll still be a podcast – nobody ever used the word podshow in a sentence. Unless it was in an ad that is.

Leo may have complained about it in the past but maybe on the next episode of no agenda you could ask Curry if he’d like to be the Mevio-Father?

# 47 RBG said, on April 24th, 2008 at 3:48 pm

41 kevlar

You can call it “me-casting” instead of podcasting

Ok, but it sounds kinda funny when an international banking conglomerate uses it.

RBG

# 48 floyd said, on April 24th, 2008 at 3:50 pm

Adam Curry coined the term “Podcast.” Another term I’ve heard is “Podshow.” They’re simple and unambiguous terms for audio shows that can run on an iPod or other portable music player, as well as PCs with iTunes or other podcast downloading software. A video equivalent ought to be out there.

“Mevio” doesn’t really sound like anything, and I’m not sure how to pronounce it. Maybe Mee-vee-o or Mev-i-o. Not good.

# 49 hhopper said, on April 24th, 2008 at 4:00 pm

Cripes! On the Mevio site, you have to stop a damn video on every page you go to. PIA

# 50 phil wright said, on April 24th, 2008 at 4:09 pm

From the podshow press release:

“We have never believed in user-generated content as a business, or even as a sustainable entertainment offering,” said Ron Bloom

From Ron’s site:

“I put forward the 5/50 rule that predicted within 5 years, over 50% of the content consumed would be created by other consumers. From my vantage point, I’m now thinking that I underestimated the percentages.”

# 51 TheCommodore said, on April 24th, 2008 at 4:13 pm

Mevio? eeeYuck! Call it like it is, man – JohnCasting! Or maybe Dvodcasting.

# 52 RBG said, on April 24th, 2008 at 5:34 pm

48 floyd. There was some thought to vodcast and vidcast but “podcast” has dominated to taken in both audio & video.

RBG

# 53 brnzn said, on April 24th, 2008 at 5:45 pm

Mevio… sounds vaguely bovine. Like a web 2.0 milk brand.

# 54 andy said, on April 24th, 2008 at 6:16 pm

“meh-vio”

# 55 Idiot Posting said, on April 24th, 2008 at 10:23 pm

What the hell is up with this web 2.0 shit!? When did we start numbering the web development process? I was posting BBS text in the late 1980′s. So now we have a guy that creates a post exactly like what we veterans were posting years ago and some company comes along and calls it “Collaboration.” Roughly twenty years later, this term is all of a sudden popular and people are thinking “ooh yeah that’s a fancy important word! oooh collaboration…let’s collaborate on our next web page and call it “Web 2.0.” It’s fancy and uses fancy code and looks pretty! Also, Leo Laporte has the right idea. Audio shows are not “Podcasts” because to the inherently uneducated public, it sounds like you need an IPod to listen to them. Gah stupid people piss me off! Natural Selection does not currently discriminate between partially educated and just plain stupid people. I know. I talk to idiots every day for a living.

# 56 pjakobs said, on April 25th, 2008 at 12:07 am

as this has turned partially into a podshow rant, I can chip in there as well.

About two or maybe 2 1/2 years ago, some of the podshow podcasts were among the first I subscribed. Some were great, some were not so great. By now, all but Tips from the Top Floor have been dropped from my podcatcher, mainly because they lost more and more content and added irrelevant advertizing (I couldn’t bear stupid godaddy anymore!)
The other thing that I just absolutely don’t like are those stupid greetings / callouts / plugs. Yes, it is ok to run one per show, but that’s only tolerated (at least that’s my point on it). I know most podcasters do what they do for free and some do provide great content, so they should have the freedom to do with their format whatever hey think suits best or is most fun. Podshow, however, is a for-profit, so if they run endless ads, either for other companies or for their own programming, they make me pay for content they’re getting almost for free by listening to stuff that I don’t want to listen to. I call that a broken business model.

The Podshow site was broken from day one, I’ve probably visited it three or four times and never again.
I did like the podsafe music idea, but I stopped following it due to the shitty quality of the site (the first iterations didn’t even work right on Linux!).

Let’s face it: Leo Laporte has it right for those of us who care for content. Podshow might be the the larger shop, but they’re fucking up big time.

pj

# 57 go mevio yourself said, on April 25th, 2008 at 6:25 am

The name mevio is not sticking with me. I never liked podcast either as it associates with iPod which I don’t have or want, but at least it rings with broadcast. Say mevio 10 times and say podcast 10 times. Mevio starts getting slurred. Podcast is sharp and crisp. “Go get my mevio” someone said. “Go get my podcast” someone said. The person who heard “mevio” isn’t sure what to do, wondering what’s a “me” and what’s a “vio”. The other person knew exactly what to do. Someone should pick something better. And it looks like the website requires Flash. Flash is annoying. I don’t use it. I avoid websites who do. Stick with WMA which every Windows computer can play. Podshow is a good name but the site has flaws. First, I don’t want to download THEIR player, I want a simple WMA file. When I figure out where to get the WMA, half the time it’s an old show. What works is when the link to download is on the Dvorak page now. Tell ya what, I’ll buy “Podshow.com” for a song and dance when they realize they need to do something else, yea, that’s the ticket, when they realize how it’s a failed model and don’t want it, I’ll buy it and post the song and dance number on your MEVIA website or was that MOVIA or MUVIO or MAVIA or MYVIU or MEROFL, oh that’s right it’s MOOVOVR right?

# 58 go mevio yourself said, on April 25th, 2008 at 6:26 am

The name mevio is not sticking with me. I never liked podcast either as it associates with iPod which I don’t have or want, but at least it rings with broadcast. Say mevio 10 times and say podcast 10 times. Mevio starts getting slurred. Podcast is sharp and crisp. “Go get my mevio” someone said. “Go get my podcast” someone said. The person who heard “mevio” isn’t sure what to do, wondering what’s a “me” and what’s a “vio”. The other person knew exactly what to do. Someone should pick something better. And it looks like the website requires Flash. Flash is annoying. I don’t use it. I avoid websites who do. Stick with WMA which every Windows computer can play. Podshow is a good name but the site has flaws. First, I don’t want to download THEIR player, I want a simple WMA file. When I figure out where to get the WMA, half the time it’s an old show. What works is when the link to download is on the Dvorak page now. Tell ya what, I’ll buy “Podshow.com” for a song and dance when they realize they need to do something else, yea, that’s the ticket, when they realize how it’s a failed model and don’t want it, I’ll buy it and post the song and dance number on your MEVIA website or was that MOVIA or MUVIO or MAVIA or MYVIU or MEROFL or something…….

# 59 pjakobs said, on April 25th, 2008 at 12:55 pm

just noticed that there’s another site called vimeo… or miveo? it’s all the same.

pj

# 60 bobbo said, on April 25th, 2008 at 1:03 pm

So, whats wrong with “webcast?”

# 61 blackfeathers said, on April 25th, 2008 at 3:28 pm

the name mevio -being a concatenation of possible root words reminds me too much of ‘moviso’ -a distributor of mobile content. their name stems from comining the words mobile, vision, & sound.

the name ‘mevio’ still takes some getting used to.

# 62 RBG said, on April 26th, 2008 at 12:00 pm

To me, Webcast suggests a video or audio program to be viewed/listened to at a scheduled time on a particular web site simultaneously by a group. Further, you wouldn’t call choosing and viewing a Youtube video a webcast.

Whereas a podcast uses RSS type technology that will automatically and continually download available subscribed programs whenever your internet-enabled device is connected, for time-shifted viewing that suits your schedule.

Maybe not exactly analogous but, Broadcast is to webcast as TIVO is to podcast.

To change the name of podcasting because more & more podcasts are less & less professional is like changing the name of cable TV, or even the internet, for the same reason, imho.

That’s my take on things, anyway.

RBG

# 63 bobbo said, on April 26th, 2008 at 12:29 pm

#62–RBG==excellent distinctions there. Pop culture hates maintaining the bright lines of distinctions though–going for what is cute, singsongy, and easy to remember?

I take it though that if one broadened your defintion just a little bit, webcast could be production made on or for webtransmission which would include podcasting, as in 3 categories of distribution: radio, tv, web, shortwave, satellite.

All depends on what the context is and what you want to emphasize?

# 64 AgentPete said, on April 27th, 2008 at 7:54 am

Feels like a desperate move. Reeks of second-guessing / incompetence. How long should we give Mevio, then?

# 65 Dave Alexander said, on April 28th, 2008 at 1:31 pm

Mevio is a joke. PodShow layed off 1/3 of it’s staff including the talent relations department. They only focus on a few podcasts and the others that they have signed get nothing, nada, not even a return phone call.

They’re hijacking other people’s feeds still and they don’t know how to write up a contract correctly so I don’t even think they’ve got lawyers or at least not good ones.

Their website has never worked well and is even more confusing now. I give it 6 months before it’s gone. They’ve spent over 24 mil and still haven’t shown a profit. There’s a few investors tapping their feet with their arms crossed over this one I’m sure.

# 66 Phillip Molly Malone said, on April 29th, 2008 at 8:53 pm

I partially agree John. I think the name change is suggestive, suggestive that Podshow has one of the worst reputaions in the business and Ron and Adam are running away from it quick as they can. I hope you don’t lose the right to your name like Steve Gillmor did!

And is it company line to mention Leo and Netcast? Cali Lewis did that on her blog as well. Doesn’t the Podshow contract have a line about being forced to support other shows (and probably the mother ship)?

Sounds like spin to me.
I would love to hear the Real Real Dvorak take on this one! Not the Paid off Real Dvorak.

Brumski
Molly
PS. Why no mention of this on Twit? Probably because Crapeio is irrelevant in the industry now!

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# 69 adambox said, on August 30th, 2008 at 6:25 am

where did you get the statistic on % played on ipods? I play mine half and half on my ipod on the subway / walk to work and half at home on my computer so which one do I count as?