128px|thumb|An RSS feed icon, commonly used to indicate the Web feed for a podcast A podcast is a series of digital media files, usually digital audio or video, that is made available for download via web syndication. The syndication aspect of the delivery is what differentiates podcasts from other files that are accessed by simple download or by streaming: it means that special client software applications known as podcatchers (such as Apple Inc.'s iTunes or Nullsoft's Winamp) can automatically identify and retrieve new files when they are made available, by accessing a centrally-maintained web feed that lists all files associated with a particular podcast. The files thus automatically downloaded are then stored locally on the user's computer or other device, for offline use.
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128px|thumb|An RSS feed icon, commonly used to indicate the Web feed for a podcast A podcast is a series of digital media files, usually digital audio or video, that is made available for download via web syndication. The syndication aspect of the delivery is what differentiates podcasts from other files that are accessed by simple download or by streaming: it means that special client software applications known as podcatchers (such as Apple Inc.'s iTunes or Nullsoft's Winamp) can automatically identify and retrieve new files when they are made available, by accessing a centrally-maintained web feed that lists all files associated with a particular podcast. The files thus automatically downloaded are then stored locally on the user's computer or other device, for offline use.
Like the term broadcast, podcast can refer either to the content itself or to the method by which the content is syndicated; the latter is also called podcasting. A podcaster is the person who creates the content.
The term is a portmanteau of the words "iPod" and "broadcast", the Apple iPod being the brand of portable media player for which early podcasting scripts were developed (see history of podcasting), allowing podcasts to be automatically transferred from a personal computer to a mobile device after they are downloaded. Despite the source of the name, it has never been necessary to use an iPod, or any other form of portable media player, to use podcasts; the content can be accessed using any computer capable of playing media files. As more mobile devices other than iPods became able to synchronize with podcast feeds, a backronym developed where podcast stood for "Personal On Demand broadCAST."
History
Expand: date=May 2009 main: History of podcasting Podcasting began to catch hold in late 2004, though the ability to distribute audio and video files easily has been around since before the dawn of the Internet. Many individuals and groups contributed to the emergence and popularity of podcasts.
Trademarks
The logo used by Apple to represent Podcasting On February 5, 2005, Shae Spencer Management LLC of Fairport, New York filed a trademark application to register PODCAST for an "online prerecorded radio program over the internet". On September 9, 2005, the United States Patent and Trademark Office rejected the application, citing Wikipedia's podcast entry as describing the history of the term.
As of September 20, 2005, known trademarks that attempted to capitalize on podcast include: Podcast Realty, GuidePod, PodGizmo, Pod-Casting, MyPod, Podvertiser, Podango, ePodcast, PodCabin, Podcaster, PodShop, PodKitchen, Podgram, GodPod and Podcast.
As of February 2007, there were 24 attempts to register trademarks containing the word "PODCAST" in United States, but only "PODCAST READY" from Podcast Ready, Inc. was approved.
