For anyone who isn't aware what Podcasting is, be advised that you are missing out on one of the biggest technology trends since this little thing we like to call "The Internet" first got started!

Yes, despite all the nay-sayers the popularity of Podcasting is increasing at an astronomical rate. The question is no longer whether Podcasting is a fad, but on how large an audience this new media can sustain!

If you peek back in time, it was around 1994/1995 when the National Science Foundation opened its main backbone to the Internet, giving way to the flood of popularity that followed.

Similar to Podcasting now, people in the mid 90's claimed the Internet was just a fad and would never amount to more than a fancy means of research. Of course, with advances in software and technology, we began seeing pictures, graphics and yes, even streaming video crop up and it was only a matter of time before it was adopted by tens of millions, and eventually hundreds of millions of people.

Podcasting Is Not The Internet!

No, you're right. Podcasting is NOT the Internet... technology-wise. They're like apples and oranges. However, they're cut from the same mold and if you were to draw comparisons between their lifecycles, you will see that Podcasting has already surpassed the Internet in its meteoric rise in popularity.

The technology that makes Podcast deliverability possible was first developed back around 2000, but the first real Podcasters didn't surface until the fall of 2004. Yes, 2004! The format was developed and pushed by two notable Podcasters, Adam Curry and David Wiener before it was quickly picked up by hundreds of others and the rest, as they say, is history.

Now, barely a year after Podcasting exploded onto the scene and was embraced by Podcasters, Bloggers, and Marketers alike, you can find over 10,000 Podcasts and over 100,000 episodes at popular online Podcast Directories like PodcastEmpire.com.

In Fact, the adoption of Podcasting has been overwhelming. The allure of the People's Radio becomes quickly obvious when you listen to Podcasts such as 'Dawn and Drew' or '5 Minutes with Witchita' - a real entertainer!

Listeners around the world are speaking out and clearly DO prefer the frank conversations, great information and raw emotions that are delivered via Podcast MP3's!

There Be Pirates In Them There Waters!

Maybe it has something to do with a generation who is still longing to have their own pirate radio station, like Christian Slater in "Pump Up The Volume"... Perhaps it's just that more people have something to say, desperate to climb above the masses and make their voices heard...

Either way the 'Waters of the Podverse' are filling up with self-proclaimed pirates, and why not? There is no policing of the Podcast airwaves, it costs very little to get started and anyone with something to say can find an audience!

The reason so many of these Podcasting rebels succeed is the same reason why so many traditional radio stations are beginning to fail. With no FCC regulators knocking at their doors, Podcasters don't need to hold anything back. You can say anything you want, whenever you want, as loudly as you want. And listeners are flocking to the raw, honest format.

X Marks The Spot! Arg!

After a solid year (Podcasting was even named Word Of The Year in 2005!) and a drastic increase in popularity, advertisers are slowly beginning to come out of the woodworks, enabling some Podcasters to see a return on their efforts.

Unfortunately though, Podcasting is not yet a medium where you should expect to become rich overnight and this may be one area where terrestrial radio stations have an advantage over the Podcast Upstarts. With gold in the coffers already and more advertisers lining up each day, it doesn't really matter what they do in the medium, traditional radio stations have all the money they need to keep their Podcasts in the game indefinitely!

Also, the entire concept of commercializing Podcasting has become a heated debate, splitting the Podverse in two ever since advertisers began trickling in last year. The same issues that we saw in the '90's around commercialization Online are starting to crop up. Podcasters and Podcast listeners alike are refusing to conform, and many are refusing advertisers outright.

We are slowly starting to see changes in this mentality though as more and more Podcast Creators are adding commercials and name drops to their shows to help keep costs down and keep their content online. And the pervasive fear, that listeners will go so far as to stop listening if they hear any advertisements, have so far, proved unfounded.

Walk The Plank, Ya Filthy Skallywag!

Where does Podcasting go from here? Can it survive? Well it was back in May of 2005 when Bill Gates commented in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung:

"As good as Apple may be, I don't believe the success of the iPod is sustainable in the long run. You can make parallels with computers: Apple was very strong in this field, with its Macintosh and graphic interface -- like the iPod today -- and then lost its position,"

The comment was realistic, but does it also offer some insight into Microsoft's own plans?

Microsoft has a proven track history of moving into an existing and established arena and quickly slaying the dominant forces! So was Gates simply foreshadowing his own companies venture into this industry? With the success of Windows Captaining their ship, Microsoft could be the ultimate pirate, sailing the seas looking, not for simple treasures, but for entire colonies to conquer.

So far Microsoft has not made any moves although Yahoo!, one of Microsoft's leading competitors in the Online Search world has jumped into the fray with their own solution for Podcasting and in typical fashion has released their own directory.

Meanwhile, Apple remains unphased and continues to roll out new incarnations of their wildly popular iPod players.

You Have The Power!!!

At the end of the day the emerging Podcast Industry will evolve as it does, without ever consulting any of us, but the continuing appeal of Podcasts and Podcasting is that, for possibly the first time ever, you and I have a very real opportunity to influence mainstream media, or at least, bypass traditional media and influence the masses; which really amounts to the same thing anyway.

Overall, you should expect to see sustained growth in Podcasting in 2006. So, if you have something to say, anything at all, pull out your eye-patch, slap a parrot on your shoulder and dive into the world of Online Pirate Radio while the Booty is still good!

Brent Paine is a writer and partner at PodcastEmpire.com [http://www.podcastempire.com], Canada’s leading Podcast Directory who also offers services designed to help Podcast Creators increase their listenership and capitalize on their efforts.