Have you already heard the term “podcasting.” It was even selected by the editors of the New Oxford American Dictionary because the Word of the Year for 2005.  However what exactly is it?

In its simplest terms, podcasting is a method of publishing audio files to the Web, that will then be automatically downloaded to a pc, iPod, MP3 player or alternative moveable media device.  For anyone who loves being attentive to the wide variety of net audio programming, however can’t always find the time to pay attention to their favorite shows once they’re scheduled or take the time to download them manually, podcasting is the answer.  It allows you to listen to your favorite content, at your convenience.

According to analysis from The Diffusion Cluster, 11.4 million listeners are expected to download a podcast this year, climbing to nearly 75 million by 2010.  Apple’s iTunes already offers fifteen,0zerozero podcasts and listeners have signed up for more than seven million subscriptions.  So what’s the rationale for this fast adoption?  Because podcasting provides people a lot of management over what they listen to, when they want to and the liberty to require their programs out and concerning with them.

But podcasting is a lot of than just TiVo for Net Radio.  Individuals are taking an increasingly active role in creating their on-line lives and, as a result, generate the bulk of content found on the Web.   Combined with human nature to create groups, share information and advance personal agendas through interaction with others, podcasting represents a significant shift in the means we have a tendency to communicate, receive and discover information.

Anyone will produce a podcast and, regardless of the topic, find an online audience that shares the same interest and can subscribe to the feed, or “show,” to automatically receive new episodes.  But podcasting is a lot of than having this fifteen minutes of fame.  Educators are using podcasts to interact with their students.  Terrestrial radio is using it to regain listeners.  It’s even changing the way media covers and distributes news and entertainment, advertisers target pitches at customers and firms design and sell their merchandise and services.

For a technology that’s been around less than 2 years, the longer term certainly looks bright for podcasting.  It has already evolved beyond straightforward time-shifting of Internet audio into the new medium for creating, finding and sharing content created by individuals for people sharing similar interests.  In alternative words, podcasting is connecting folks to people, in the growing content-on-demand World.