Apple controls the iOS ecosystem. As an accident of history, Apple also controls the podcasting ecosystem. Unlike most ecosystems within Apple’s dominion, podcasts remain open. A podcaster merely has to record an mp3, distribute it via RSS feed, and submit that RSS feed to the iTunes podcast portal.

Podcasting has thrived in recent years, but very few technology companies have managed to take advantage of that growth. Libsyn is the most popular place to host a podcast. Libsyn is a combination of a CDN, a hosting service, analytics, and place to get an RSS feed for a podcaster. There have been many clones of Libsyn over the years, but the company remains the industry standard.

For people who are confused–iTunes does not host any audio files. It is just an index of feeds. A podcaster needs to host audio files somewhere in order to give iTunes access.

Today’s guest Rob Walch joins the show to talk about podcasts–including his podcast Today in iOS. I had a great time meeting Rob at the Microsoft Build conference. Special thanks to Bharat Bhat for organizing the podcast booths at Microsoft Build.

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