Podcasting for Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Chapter 19. Top Ten Most Influential People in Podcasting

If you're reading this book, you're likely new to podcasting and might have missed out on the trials and tribulations that went along with that huge growth spurt. As with any sudden rise, select individuals proved themselves to be instrumental to podcasting, as well as to other podcasters, during those formative times all those long months ago.

This chapter suggests ten (or so) of these individuals who will likely continue to influence the shape of things to come in the podcasting world. As you read these names, try to remember that these are regular people like the rest of us. True, some of them may seem larger than life (even in a field this new), but all of them put their pants on one leg at a time — unless they're wearing kilts.

Although we encourage you to make your own decisions, a wise budding podcaster or future podcast star would do well to take a listen to the wisdom/information/rants put forth by this group. Often controversial and usually informative, each of these people has a unique outlook on the world of podcasting. We've found these folks to be helpful guides in our own growth in podcasting. But (as we've said probably way too many times in this book for our editors' tastes) your mileage may vary.

Dave Winer

Podcasting really wouldn't be podcasting without the capability to enclose files inside an RSS feed — and Dave Winer is the one who made that happen with the development of RSS 0.92 and then RSS 2.0 specifications. ...