What Podcasting doesn’t need⇢

Marco Arment:

I’ve never been more proud to be operating a large podcast app that’s built on standard RSS, open access, and standard playback of podcasters’ original files directly from their servers, with no garbage ads being inserted, no behavioral tracking for advertisers, no proprietary lock-in, and absolutely no requirements that podcasters register with me, do anything differently, lose any control, agree to any terms, or even be aware of my app at all to be played, shared, and promoted in it.

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More on Stitcher⇢

John Gruber:

I worry that it’s toxic to combine advertising sales with an exclusive app for playback. Advertisers want tracking? You got it — in Stitcher. The end goal here is lock-in, and so I think it’s worth fighting right from the start, even at the expense of a few thousand additional listeners for my show. Maybe they’ll never become dominant. Maybe even if they do, they won’t do anything to promote lock-in. But now is the only time to resist the possibility that they’ll grow dominant and abuse their position. It’s too late once it happens.

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E.W. Scripps Co buys Stitcher⇢

Steven Perlberg at the WSJ:

Media company E.W. Scripps Co. has continued its push into podcasting with the acquisition of Stitcher for $4.5 million in cash.

Stitcher is a free app that streams more than 65,000 podcasts from publishers ranging from NPR to MSNBC to The Wall Street Journal. It will operate under Midroll Media, the podcast advertising company that Scripps acquired last year for $50 million, plus $10 million more over three years if the company hits certain milestones.

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RSS Sponsor: Audio Hijack from Rogue Amoeba⇢

If you do any work with audio on your Mac, Audio Hijack is for you. With it, you can record any application’s audio and get an audio file for use wherever you like.

If you can hear it, Audio Hijack can record it.

Podcasters the world over use Audio Hijack to record their shows. Whether it’s simply capturing their own mic and applying audio effects, or record Skype conversations, Audio Hijack is a podcaster’s best friend. Of course, you don’t need to be creating content to make good use of Audio Hijack. You can save a Skype conversation with an elderly relative, record a web stream from Safari, and so much more.

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Fadell, on his time at Nest⇢

In an interview with Ashlee Vance at Bloomberg:

Bloomberg: The internet says you might be a tyrant. Are you a tyrant?

Fadell: You can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs. That style may not be for everyone. But, you know, there are people that worked with me years ago at General Magic, and they have their kids working for me now. If it was true, it would get around like crazy. The Valley’s a small place. I’ve been here 25 years, right?

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Tony Fadell out at Nest⇢

Tony Fadell:

While there is never a perfect time to transition, we’ve grown Nest to much more than a thermostat company. We’ve created a hardware + software + services ecosystem, which is still in the early growth stage and will continue to evolve to move further into the mainstream over the coming years. The future of Nest is equally as bright given the strong and experienced leadership team in place, as well as the two-year product roadmap we’ve developed together to ensure the right future direction.

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