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A netcast is a multimedia file distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds, for playback on mobile devices and personal computers. The term netcast, like 'radio', can mean both the content and the method of delivery. The host or author of a netcast can be called a netcaster. Though netcasters' web sites may also offer direct download or streaming of their content, a netcast is distinguished from other digital audio formats by its ability to be downloaded automatically using software capable of reading feeds like RSS or Atom. The term netcast was proposed by Leo Laporte on September 22, 2006 as an alternative for podcast. Laporte's reasoning was based on the following: By September 26, 2006, a number of individuals had begun using term "netcast", including large corporates such as CBS. * who used it prior to Laporte's proposal. CNET's Buzz Out Loud podcast also used "netcast" jokingly before Laporte mentioned it in his keynote at the Podcast Expo. It should also be noted that Netcast is a trademark of Netcast AG, a research firm of Switzerland. * Mechanics The publish/subscribe model of netcasting is a version of push technology, in that the information provider chooses which files to offer in a feed and the subscriber chooses among available feed channels. While the user is not "pulling" individual files from the Web, there is a strong "pull" aspect in that the receiver is free to subscribe to (or unsubscribe from) a vast array of channels. Earlier Internet "push" services (e.g., PointCast) allowed a much more limited selection of content. Netcasting is an automatic mechanism whereby multimedia computer files are transferred from a server to a client, which pulls down XML files containing the Internet addresses of the media files. In general, these files contain audio or video, but also could be images, text, PDF, or any file type. A netcast is generally analogous to a recorded television or radio series. The content provider begins by making a file (for example, an MP3 audio file) available on the Internet. This is usually done by posting the file on a publicly-available webserver; however, BitTorrent trackers also have been used, and it is not technically necessary that the file be publicly accessible. The only requirement is that the file be accessible through some known URI (a general-purpose Internet address). This file is often referred to as one episode of a netcast. The content provider then acknowledges the existence of that file by referencing it in another file known as the feed. The feed is a list of the URLs by which episodes of the show may be accessed. This list is usually published in RSS format (although Atom can also be used), which provides other information, such as publish dates, titles, and accompanying text descriptions of the series and each of its episodes. The feed may contain entries for all episodes in the series, but is typically limited to a short list of the most recent episodes, as is the case with many news feeds. Standard netcasts consist of a feed from one author. More recently multiple authors have been able to contribute episodes to a single netcast feed using concepts such as public netcasting and social netcasting. The content provider posts the feed on a webserver. The location at which the feed is posted is expected to be permanent. This location is known as the feed URI (or, perhaps more often, feed URL). The content provider makes this feed URI known to the intended audience. A consumer uses a type of software known as an aggregator to subscribe to and manage their feeds. A netcast specific aggregator is usually an always-on program which starts when the computer is started and runs in the background. They work exactly like any newsreader someone would use to manage other web subscriptions. It manages a set of feed URIs added by the user and downloads each at a specified interval, such as every two hours. If the feed data has substantively changed from when it was previously checked (or if the feed was just added to the application's list), the program determines the location of the most recent item and automatically downloads it to the user's computer. Interestingly, it is estimated that perhaps only 20% of netcasts are actually consumed on portable media players; 80% are consumed on the PC onto which they are downloaded. Some applications, such as iTunes, also automatically make the newly downloaded episodes available to a user's portable media player. The downloaded episodes can then be played, replayed, or archived as with any other computer file. To conserve bandwidth, users may opt to search for content using an online netcast directory. Some directories allow people to listen online and initially become familiar with the content provided from an RSS Feed before deciding to subscribe. For most broadband users, bandwidth is generally not a major consideration, it could fairly be stated that Netcasting itself is a technology that came with the increases in global bandwidth and broadband popularity. Other uses Netcasting's initial appeal was to allow individuals to distribute their own "radio shows," but the system quickly became used in a wide variety of other ways, including distribution of school lessons, official and unofficial audio tours of museums, conference meeting alerts and updates, and by police departments to distribute public safety messages. Resistance to the term Netcast Since Leo Laporte's suggestion, and then subsequent use of the word netcast instead of podcast, he decided to run a poll to ask his audience what word they'd prefer to use. As of October 24, 2006, 44% of the users of TWiT voted that the name podcast should stay; netcast has 33% of the vote. Other options are "webcast," "netshow," "audcast," "lala" (a reference to Diggnation) and "something else (add your suggestion to the comments)." Comments regarding the issue on Leo's blog range from support of the change to anger. Some suggested that Leo shows a level of arrogance in thinking he can change the name via a TWiT campaign, with others believing there is a financial motive for it, including trademarking the name himself for the US market; Leo denied this on the October 9, 2006 episode of TWiT. List of companies using "pod" to whom Apple has sent cease-and-desist letters List of companies using "podcast" to whom Apple has sent cease-and-desist letters "While Apple, of course, has no general objection to proper use of the descriptive term "podcast" as part of a trademark for goods and services offered in the podcasting field, it cannot allow marks that go beyond this legitimate use and infringe an Apple's rights in POD and IPOD." from C&D letter sent to Podcast Ready from Apple's Lawyers. The letter however, was in reference to Podcast Ready's MyPodder software, not the term podcast. It has yet to be shown if and how Apple intends to prove ownership of the word "podcast" or how they feel that Podcast Ready is infringing on their rights to the word. | |||||||
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