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A new word is a funny creature. Especially when it starts out as a bit of jargon that only means something to a small group of people, and then suddenly starts getting used by the general public, who has no idea where the word came from.
The word “podcast” was originally coined by Ben Hammersley, a web developer in the Guardian in 2004, not by Apple. It was originally a combination of “iPod” and “broadcast,” used to describe the delivery of media files using XML-based RSS as a distribution method. The “iPod” part of “podcasting was meant to refer to an iPod as a generic mp3 player. Therein lies the weakness of the term when used in public. Podcasts do not require an iPod. Podcasts can even be incompatable with iPods if they distribute media files that the iPod player does not play, like WMA Windows Media files. And recently, Apple has begun clamping down on companies that use the word “pod,” citing trademark law.
I agree, “podcast” is a terrible name for media content distributed via RSS. Leo Laporte; tech guru, podcaster, and all around jolly fellow; has proposed people use the word “netcast” instead. I also noticed, when listening to Inside the Net, one of Leo’s shows, that he’s changed the intro for shows on the TWiT podcasting network to say “Netcasts you love…” instead of “Podcasts you love…”
I can’t count the number of times someone has told me they can’t get a podcast because they don’t own an iPod without taking off my shoes. Hopefully the word “netcast” will catch on. Unfortunately, “podcast” is the word that most people have heard of. It’s also the one that’s already in the dictionary. And it’s the one that I will continue to use because it’s already in general use. But if “netcast” becomes more widely known, I’ll use it in a heartbeat.