The Problems Podcasting Will Solve

I think of podcasting as an evolutionary step towards solving a lot of issues we need to solve to get videoblogging launched.

Podcasts (audio blogs) and videoblogs essentially have one glaring problem. It's the same problem all movies, audio, videos, tv have.

They are very difficult to search in any true digital manner.

They are search resistant.

Podcasting, being simply audio (and not the more complicated audio + video) will give us a laboratory for how to search analog data efficiently and quickly. Tags and keywords and ways to describe content and catalogue sound will be the hottest next big thing for awhile and then those lessons learned will be used for visual media. Then the search wars will really be raging.

With Ev Williams doing Odeo and Adam Curry revving up his podcasting efforts at Podshow, we'll be seeing a lot of interesting initiatives in this arena.