Slowly moving to mainstream

It’s critical that podcasts find their way into the mainstream to really gain traction. Key to that movement is the widespread availability and clear marketing of podcasts that transcend the medium.

Put another way, “real people” (not technology enthusiasts) need to clearly discover and understand how podcasts can benefit them in their everyday lives.

For example, I bet most people don’t know that they could have the New York Times read to them every morning on their way to work. Or listen to the previous day’s episode of ESPN’s popular Pardon the Interuption program while at the gym.

These are everyday uses for a medium that few yet understand. But 1) those uses need to be communicated and discovered by “mainstream” consumers, and 2) enough content has to exist and be easily discoverable for everyday consumers to make the connection.

It was therefore disappointing to read today that Major League Baseball is pulling it’s well-done podcasts from the iTunes store, over something to do with site placement.

Sure, there are literally hundreds of other baseball podcasts available online, but Major League Baseball has the credibility and production quality to help people understand far more clearly what podcasting can do for them.

This is a temporary set-back on an inevitable path for podcasting, but sad nonetheless.