The implications of iTunes 4.9
iTunes 4.9 supports podcasting. So what? Well, everyone who has an iPod has iTunes and that's currently some six million people, and once they all upgrade to version 4.9, they'll have a podcasting client. That's what. Podcasting has just become easier and this is a big step along the road to making it a mass phenomenon. According to data released last week by TDG Research, podcasting may be adopted by as many as 60 million users by 2010.
Two critical iTunes 4.9 innovations worth noting: you can publish your podcasts to the Apple Music Store, and iTunes automatically downloads the most recent podcast. Clever. One downside is that this probably means the death of iPodder. Pity. Still, the Podfather is on board, so all's well.
According to AppleInsider: "Initially, all of the Podcasts listed on the iTunes Music Store will be made available free-of-charge. Although Apple has plans to introduce premium content in the future, it reportedly feels that associating a fee with Podcasts too early in the game will deter some users from the technology."
Could this be another revenue stream, er, download for bloggers?
