What would happen to the Daily Show or The Colbert Report if absurdity and irony faded  from the polictical landscape?  I guess all that we would have left would be The Soup and Best Week Ever (which are my only two guilty media pleasures, by the way).

By now, you have guessed that I am really talking about Podcheck.  Podcheck’s subject matter has lost it’s sizzle, and the news items that Podcheck has covered for the last 2 years have become mundane and uninteresting to me.  In the early days, we all had to figure out RSS, mp3 encoding rates, ID3 tags, and blog software.  Now, there are standard methods and tools, and numerous how-to books.  In the early days, the news from the podcatastophere was ever changing and very interesting to me as new players came and went, new mini-battles developed between personalities, ideologies, and technologies.  In the early days, there were a handful of players, and most of them were outspoken, novel, and/or interesting.  Now, there are a zillion players and, while some may still be outspoken, and while many are still quite interesting, few of them are truly novel in the sea of novelty.

 

I’m bored with the meta.  I’m no longer interested in the “inside baseball” of podcasting.

I had two options:  1) Change the focus and direction of the show, or 2) discontinue this show and move on to something else of greater interest.  I have chosen the latter and have decided to move on.

Over the last 9 years, I have become a subject matter expert in several other fields.  You will hear from me sometime this year, either in a new panel show from my company or in someone else’s show.  Most importantly, I will use podcasting to do what it does well; communicate highly specialized information to markets underserved by broadcast channels, fostering conversations within communities that cross geographic/physical boundaries.

As for Podcheck, I will likely record two more shows; a “last call” show announcing the end and requesting suggestions for a Best Of Podcheck episode, and then the “Best of Podcheck” finale.

Do you have a favorite bit or segment from any of the last 30-some shows?  Leave a comment, or e-mail me at show -at - podcheck.com.Â

Download mp3

Here is the link to the hour-long roundtable led by Jeff Lebow with Rob Walch (Podcast411) and Shelly Brisbin (writer extraordinary), and me (me)  to discuss podcasting’s impact on politics, culture, and business in 2006. 

Hear our thoughts on:

• Whether or not podcasting will play a significant role in politics in 2007.
• How “the podcasting topic” is being integrated into other tradeshows and marketplaces.
• Why podcast networks exist, and the difference between general networks and boutique networks.  Do they really influence how advertisers spend their money?
• How has the technology of “new media” evolved in 2006?  Has anything really changed in the way that people create (podcast) media, or consume (podcast) media?
• Was 2006 supposed to be “The Year of Video?”  Why does video have so much success building communities and sharing clips?  Why isn’t there a similar system for audio.
• “New media” and its impact on education.

…and in the second hour (at http://worldbridges.net/node/3264)

• Our predictions for 2007
• Some ranting about “Web 2.0″ and how that label sucks.

(WordPress might very well include this first hour’s file in the feed, but that’s not a bad thing.)  Here’s the link to the file:

• download first hour’s audio file from WorldBridges.net

Visit the WorldBridges website for more information about their worthwhile endeavors in education, and facilitating the use of web technologies to communicate across borders. 

In fact, visit their site to hear LAST YEAR’s show, too!  Hear a great discussion between Rob, myself, and some very intelligent folks from the WorldBridges community and the state of podcasting at the end of 2005.  (Discover how 2006 was supposed to be the year of “HIWIWIWI”)

http://worldbridges.com/livewire/2006/01/03/discussion-with-scott-fletcher-of-podcheckreviewcom/

http://worldbridges.com/livewire/2006/01/03/discussion-with-scott-fletcher-of-podcheckreviewcom/

Bless you, and best wishes for peace and health for you in 2007.
–Scott Fletcher