Sometimes Steve J is slow to jump into some things the rest of us see as obvious, so this may not happen fast enough, but when the "video iPod" is introduced this thing will get really useful.
But the ability to play .mov files at the very least, is critical. Someone will do it first.
Podcasting in some ways is not news. We've long been able to record audio files and distribute them via MP3.
What is new is that there is an emerging SYSTEM for creating and distributing media, which consists of a recording device, say a laptop, and a playback device, an iPod, and that there is a degree of integration which facilitates the transfer.
I don't own an iPod, but can listen to podcasts on my laptop just fine, and these types of files could have been produced at any time, but the IDEA is now catching up with technology.
The BIG IDEA is going to hit, I think, when iPods can play .mov files, and VIDEO hits iPodding. And isn't a QuickTime iPod inevitable? Then we all have the ability to iPod (the verb) TV shows to each other.
And can't iPods also be used to record audio source material, making the computer almost unnecessary for some "shows"?
I think Podcasting will stick.
Presentation Feb 9th at BMUG
Why Podcasting Will Fail