For the second time in under a week Apple has rejected a Podcasting Application from The Apple App Store. Earlier in the week Cliff Ravencraft of GSPN had his Podcasting Application Rejected from the App Store as well.
Then today the folks over at Podcast.fm had their application rejected with language that was identical to the rejection notice Cliff received. The odd thing about this is that their are already a couple of Podcasting Applications in the Apple App store (Diggnation Application & Mobility Today Application) the question is why where they approved?
Is Apple playing favoritism in their decision, or more sinister did Apple once again want to slow the progression of new media in lieu of keeping their mainstream media partners happy?
Lets face it, Apple has done very little if nothing to help the podcasting space since July of 2005 when they introduced podcasting download support into iTunes. It is my opinion that the iTunes Podcast Directory is a dismal failure, with 10’s of thousands of podcast listed that are no longer being produced.
Apple has done nothing to help promote the podcasting space beyond the iTunes functionality. Because in doing so they would have had to recognize that your don’t need a iPod to listen to a podcast. Which has caused many content consumers to become confused thinking they needed a iPod to listen to a podcast.
The Featured Podcast section of iTunes has always been a bone of contention, and subject of a lot of rumors of being able to be influenced by outside firms and old media companies. It is readily apparent that they have bent over backwards to make old media, over-shadow the new media content creators which grew the space into what it is today.
In all honesty Apple has done more to hurt the podcasting space then help it since late 2005. I have talked about this at length on previous podcast and this topic will be a subject I cover on my podcast next Tuesday.
Here is a little known fact, since the introduction of the Zune Media Player and their prominent placing of Podcast in the Zune Marketplace 13–16% of todays podcast listeners get their podcast on a Zune Media Player. I base that numbers on statistics obtained from over 1000 podcasters that use the RawVoice Podcast Statistic Service. Microsoft has done more to promote podcasting in the past year then Apple has.
Microsoft and Zune are now even signing on as sponsors at podcasting events, something Apple has never done!
In lieu of Apples Action I have stopped RawVoice’s development of an iTunes Podcasting Application. The walled garden of Apple has become very apparent and based on these reports it appears that Apple is becoming a little bit like Microsoft used to be.
One thing is certain the existing Podcast Apps in the App Store should be removed in fairness since the other two applications have been rejected.