Where does the word podcast come from?
Podcasts are the new radio. They may have initially found a foothold among commuters, but everyone is quickly beginning to appreciate the convenience and joy of absorbing content through an audio-first format. The word podcast is sure to become embedded in our vocabularies for decades to come as digital content diversifies from touchscreens to more audio and voice.
Outside of peas, the term “pod” is familiar to us from that old but revolutionary technology, the beloved iPod. And surprising as it may seem today, that’s exactly where the term podcast comes from. So the first question then becomes, where did Apple get the name iPod from? Because it’s Apple, it wasn’t from a sterile acronym (despite what some sources claim). No, it was inspired from a popular science fiction movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey.
As a reminder, before the iPod came along (and when not discussing peas), “pod” was a word mainly used in aeronautics; it means “a detachable or self-contained unit on an aircraft, spacecraft, vehicle, or vessel, having a particular function.” Okay, now here’s the lowdown on how it made its way into consumer electronics:
“Jobs had settled on the player’s descriptive tag line — “1,000 songs in your pocket” — so the name was freed up from having to be descriptive. It didn’t have to reference music or songs.
While describing the player, Jobs constantly referred to Apple’s digital hub strategy: The Mac is a hub, or central connection point, for a host of gadgets. This prompted Chieco to start thinking about hubs: objects that other things connect to. [Chieco was a copywriter hired to help market the iPod and think of a name]
The ultimate hub, Chieco figured, would be a spaceship. You could leave the spaceship in a smaller vessel, a pod, but you’d have to return to the mother ship to refuel and get food. Then Chieco was shown a prototype iPod, with its stark white plastic front. “As soon as I saw the white iPod, I thought 2001,” said Chieco. “Open the pod bay door, Hal!”
— excerpt from a 2006 Wired article that is the most reliable source on this
That quote he mentions — “Open the pod bay door, Hal!” — is from a famous scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey. I don’t know if it’s coincidence that the iPod was introduced in 2001, but I imagine it helped with the enthusiasm for the name.
The advent and history of podcasting is colorful and quite independent of Apple, but the iPod’s role as the dominant portable audio device made it centerstage in this journey.
Okay I’ve already kept you reading for long so I’ll cut to the chase: podcast is a combination of the words “iPod” and “broadcast.” It was first suggested by a journalist in 2004, and then popularized by various figures including an MTV video jockey with celebrity status.
I suppose the irony is that even as the little device that catapulted and even christened podcasts has been phased out, podcasts are here to stay. And some of the best ones aren’t on Apple podcasts.
But even if you don’t consume them on an iPhone, I think we all have Jobs and Chieco to thank for the name because they were originally called “audioblogs,” quite a clunky mouthful.
Fun fact: the word “Spotify” was born of pure accident; while brainstorming from separate rooms, one of the founders shouted a name that the other misheard as Spotify.
Fun fact #2: Spotify announced that a new exclusive podcast with none other than Michelle Obama, aptly called “The Michelle Obama Podcast,” will debut on July 29.
The movie clip that influenced words in consumer tech forever:
2001 — A Space Odyssey (HD) — Best Scene with Hal and Dave — ‘Hal open the pod bay doors’ — www.youtube.com
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