2005 may have been the year of the word “podcast” but 2008 is shaping up to be the “Year of the Podcast.” There has been a great boom in podcasts over the latter part of 2007 and it starting to become as popular as blogging. While people may have heard the word “podcast” in 2005, in 2007 people are starting to hear actual podcasts. Additionally, Microsoft’s Zune is finally supporting podcasts and is set to make a big Christmas splash. That’s why I think next year podcasts are going to explode and anyone not already podcasting may be getting into the game late.

Furthermore, many of the podcasts being produced are being done with the same professionalism as radio and could compete in quality. Of my two podcasts, Podcast Ping (http://podcastping.blogspot.com) and The Silent Pen (http://thesilentpen.blogspot.com), Podcast Ping is the one I put the most effort into and with the free tools available, I can produce a radio-suitable quality. I can even get songs to play on it under podsafe provisions.

But I don’t think about trying to make money from it. It really only costs me the time and effort to produce the podcast. And that's the competition the major media outlets have to face, which makes it more likely that podcasts and vidcasts will become like television and radio are now: high quality that's free to the consumer.