Staci Kramer writing in PaidContent.Org about a NY Times
story written by John Markoff.
"[Markoff's story is] close to dismissive or oblivious to other entrepreneurial efforts to make money by automating audio feeds or creating audio for RSS-driven distribution. Markoff heralds today's upcoming announcement of Odeo, Ev Williams' new venture with Noah Glass, as 'a small, hopeful step' toward podcasting 'becoming the commercial Web's next big thing.' He adds, 'The question for Odeo, and for the many other entrepreneurial efforts almost certain to come, is whether there is any money to be made from podcasting.' (Like I said, blinders when it comes to endeavors already underway.)"
My comment. This is John Markoff as kingmaker, not reporter. He's trying to deal a market to people he likes, and away from people he doesn't. Of course this is not the proper role of a NY Times reporter, who is supposed to report objectively on just the facts. But Markoff is so far from that role, he's more of a king these days than a kingmaker.
What's so cool about podcasting is that this process is visible to so many bloggers, and instead of just reporting the hype, they're going a level deeper. This time they were aware of podcasting before they read about it in the Times, the news was carried first by the blogging network, so they get to see a very clear A-B, they know what actually happened, and now they see how the reporters twist it up. They have the insiders' view that till now you had to be an insider to have.
First the story was that Adam Curry invented the whole thing, with a teeny bit of help from his friend Dave Winer. Now Adam Curry himself is a minor figure in the invention process, Dave Winer doesn't rate a mention, now the inventor is Evan Williams, toiling away in a SF apartment (in pajamas perhaps) with his friends, as if a multi-millionaire couldn't afford decent offices with the usual embellishments, like secretaries and conference rooms.
Evan has good reason to expect it will work, he managed to grab full credit for the nvention of weblogs. Like Curry, he claims to have told the reporters it wasn't true, but we weren't there for those conversations, and somehow the stories came out the other way.
# Posted by Dave Winer on 2/26/05; 5:21:22 AM - --
