Spoken Internet to go: Popularization through podcasting

D iem (2005) provides a useful introduction to podcasting and its applicability to Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). This article starts with a brief historical background on the trends leading to the popularization of podcasting or the sudden prominence of Internet audio. Supporting Web services such as dynamic directories of podcast sites and iTunes are shown to contribute to this popularization. Specific examples are presented: the BlogMatrix podcast hosting site, the podcasting blog " Japancasting, " and the " Spoken Libraries " project of the World Association for Online Education. There is also the little-known story that the first school in the world to give iPods to all students was not Duke University but rather Osaka Jogakuin College in Japan, where podcasting is therefore particularly made to order. The popularization of a suite of technologies arguably occurs when the innovations of programmers capture the imagination of the public, which then pours attention and resources into further innovations. Early iterations of online communication technologies from Arpanet and Telenet to e-mail, bulletin board systems and MOOs were satisfactory to those comfortable with computer technology and abstract text-based communication. But those media represented sensory deprivation and technical obstacles to most of humanity along with economic, educational, cultural and linguistic challenges. Then in the mid-90s browser technologies popularized the Web, and the fuller sensory experience of images, movement and sounds guaranteed the WWW a global appeal. The marketing success of Windows 95 with Internet Explorer in Japan was such that some men reportedly lined up to buy it without knowing that a computer was also necessary. The basic HTML behind browsers and home page making programs brought programming within reach of educated people willing to try new technologies, but it still represented a barrier for the majority.