jonathan 08 Jan 06

Hah…
Marketing spin like this reeks a bit too much of dishonesty and would seem to hurt their brand from my perspective. They’d be better to truthfully allude to iPods and try to show how what was once the market leader is now being challenged by their own product. At least that’s honest.

Stefan Hartwig 08 Jan 06

That’s hilarious, but I guess you can’t blame them for trying.

I wonder what ZEN stands for?

Dan Boland 08 Jan 06

A for effort, F for give me a fucking break.

LOL

Doug 08 Jan 06

Their feedback form on the “Contact Us” page is conveniently not accepting feedback in any fashion currently.

Rabbit 08 Jan 06

I love this place.

I had trouble reading their site, too. They’re so out of date with their 10px font sizes. ;)

Don Wilson 08 Jan 06

I saw that used in another article a few days ago and I thought it was the stupidest fucking ‘idea’ ever.

Fred S 08 Jan 06

Where have I seen this before… hmm.

not my real name 08 Jan 06

That really annoys me, for some reason.

Grayson 08 Jan 06

Well, at least you can Set your color.

Thats worth something, right?

Mike Rundle 08 Jan 06

Any color you want, as long as it’s ugly.

Fred S 08 Jan 06

Ugly like their devices. I think Rio and Sony are Apple’s best competition in the looks department.

That said, podcast is one of those words that was poorly coined. At least their made-up definition gives it more accurate meaning.

Anonymous Coward 08 Jan 06

ZEN = zero effectiveness, numbnuts.

zen bastard 08 Jan 06

ZEN = zero effectiveness, numbnuts.

MSF 08 Jan 06

Spin and the oddball battles between Sim Wong Hoo and Apple aside, I’ve heard this ‘definition’ used several times recently in more neutral contexts.

I like it.

gimme a break... 08 Jan 06

Is it any worse than Steve Jobs denying a video iPod for two years, or wasting his time trying to convince us that G5 was the CPU of the future (3GHz anyone?)… Yes, marketing suck sometimes.

PJ Hyett 08 Jan 06

It is comical, but their definition is a lot of hell better than the real one.

Matt Todd 08 Jan 06

I’ll be honest and say that I think it’s a good name. Sure, it’s trying to take away Apple’s claim to its origin, but I still like the term.

Hmm, perhaps it’s a better definition than a pseudo-acronym for the term Podcast… if that makes any sense.

M.T.

Simon Jessey 08 Jan 06

Apple didn’t come up with podcasts, anyway. Creative’s effort is really no different from Dave Winer’s Really Simple Syndication instead of Rich Site Summary or RDF Site Summary. I actually think it is better for for “podcast” to have an open, rather than proprietary, definition of some sort.

Anthony 08 Jan 06

Not very creative of Creative.

Andrew W 08 Jan 06

I suspect this may have more to do w/ lawsuit protection than marketing. If I were an iPod competitor, I’d be leery of using “podcast” in my marketing materials, too.

David K 08 Jan 06

The “pod” in podcast is a big part of the podcasting mindshare. If it weren’t for the automatic association with the sexiest MP3 player, the buzz would be much less than it is now. It’s a broadcast for your iPod. It doesn’t matter what “pod” stands for any more than it matters what “perl” stands for. They are what they are. Besides, backronyms are dumb.

Matt 08 Jan 06

What a fucking joke… this is why I hate people.

Mark Whybird 08 Jan 06

Heh - when the title of that page is truncated in a Tab on my copy of Mozilla at work, it says



“Creative ZENcast - the ultimate sour…”



Seems appropriate, somwhow.

Jie Kang 08 Jan 06

Backronym is “a type of acronym that is constructed to match the letters of a actual word appropriate in some fashion to the topic at hand”.

Justin 08 Jan 06

Huh.

Seems to me as though someone at Creative has just come up with Apple’s new marketing campaign: “iPod. Your Personal, On-Demand media companion.”

Leave it to Apple to be Creative.

SC 09 Jan 06

weird, I thought PODCast stood for pr0n On Demand…. boy was I off.

BenJ 09 Jan 06

Silly it may be, but it’s a lot better than Microsoft trying to rename the things “blogcasts.” Pathetic.

Jon Roobottom 09 Jan 06

Spin spin spin spin spin… Same old Bullshit. When are they going to credit the great tech-buying masses with a small modicum of intelligence?

Rich 09 Jan 06

Since when did ‘pod’ have to stand for anything? It doesn’t, and never has. It doesn’t have to. Anyone who uses the word know what it means.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/downloadtrial/ to see how the word is used straightforwardly as a useful term. Useful terms get used. Sorry, but end of story.

Saying that

“podcast is one of those words that was poorly coined. At least their made-up definition gives it more accurate meaning”

seems really strange to me.

Words catch on, or they don’t.

Ask Google:

“…of about 83,400,000 for podcast…”

“…of about 118,000 for z**cast…” (don’t want to encourage them, now do we?)

Trying to redefine afterwards is so obvious and desperate that it’s hilarious. If those numbers get significantly closer I’ll be amazed - and saddened that there are so many annoying people out there.

stu willis 09 Jan 06

Yep, and ‘to google’ comes from To ‘Go dOwnoad Organised Lists Electronically’.

Robert G 09 Jan 06

It seems too late for any company to break the MP3 monopoly / mindshare away from Apple.

If someone would offer an unlimited audio books service, even if it was like Rhaposdy where the books were not owned, I’d switch players! Even at $50 / month, it would be worth it.

As for naming, how’s itunes for a bad name. They never thought it would be used for podcasts, video or audio books.

Michael 09 Jan 06

In trying to leave them feedback on the site you will notice that their Contact Us module is “expired.”

“This evaluation component has expired.”

Haha.

Evan 09 Jan 06

Nice example of a backronym. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backronym).

Darrel 09 Jan 06

I immediately went ‘WTF’ as well, but then sat there and though “ya know, that’s not a bad way to define the term.”

Thanks, Evan, for the Backronym link. Love it!

detroit 09 Jan 06

nothing like kicking off the week with the F bomb.

fuck yeah!

Megan Holbrook 09 Jan 06

Fred

Ugly like their devices. I think Rio and Sony are Apple�s best competition in the looks department.

Despite their slightly less beautiful aesthetic and less intuitive navigation, Creative Zen Media devices offer more functionality (and storage) for less money than Apple devices - for instance, they include an FM radio and voice recorder. It’s hard to understand why Apple doesn’t include these as well, except that it might hurt their iTunes sales. When I run in the morning, I need my NPR, and I’m not going to first download a podcast to get it. ;)

I’ve owned a Zen Micro for about 6 months, and just bought a Zen Nano for my mother-in-law and a Zen 20Gb Portable Media Center for my husband for Christmas, which they both love.

Denigrating Creative Media because they redefine podcasts to be a more inclusive word, especially when they’ve come up with a definition that doesn’t need a convoluted explanation*, seems a little bit petty. Language wants to be free…. including free to be co-opted by companies who will benefit.

*a sample “podcast” explanation to my less-than-technical mother-in-law: “Well, an ipod is an Apple music player…umm, yes Apple is the company which produces it…no, not the company that made yours…and the name got shortened to ‘pod…and then you download….aw, forget it…”

Dave 09 Jan 06

Folks, Creative didn’t attempt to redefine what Podcast stands for, if you look at the Wikipedia page for Podcast that acronym is there and it’s been around for ages.

Scott Brooks 09 Jan 06

Have you ever asked someone for a Kleenex ? Were you sure it was a Kleenex ? Or was it a Scott Brand or perhaps a no name facial tissue. There was nothing prior to kimberly clarke inventing the category. Same goes for apple.

Kleenex has become synonomous with facial tissue. So much so that when people look around and see a box of facial tissues they inevitably ask for a kleenex.

Podcast has be come sysnonomous with “self contained auto downloading audio files.”

How did the tissue companys react …….they didn’t try to change the name of the category. They road the wave of a new category.

Dear Creative
Stop….please…..your making yourselves look childish.
Scott

Gary King 09 Jan 06

Dave,

The only thing about ‘personal on demand’ on the Wikipedia article is:

“Creative, a manufacturer of competing audio player products, criticise the term as giving undue credit to Apple and have attempted to revise its etymology so as to refer to Personal On Demand broadcasting.”

arrowhen 09 Jan 06

How did the tissue companys react …….they didn’t try to change the name of the category.

Actually, they did just that. Ten or fifteen years ago, I remember ads in the back of Writer’s Digest and other such magazines politely asking authors not to use brand names such as Kleenex and Xerox to mean general categories of products like facial tissues and photocopiers.

Needless to say they weren’t very successful, but they did try.

Part of the lexicon 09 Jan 06

Kleenex=tissue
Jello=gelatin
Xerox=photocopy
podcast=distributing audio content for listening on mobile devices and personal computers

That’s just the way it is. Either deal with it or not, but it won’t change the fact that these company brandnames have become synomymous with the technologies and products they sell. You can whine all you want, it won’t change reality!

ryan king 09 Jan 06

This is very old news, first came out June of 2005 (http://www.schwoebel.biz/wordpress/index.php/2005/06/27/podcasting-with-wordpress/).

TiaLouise 09 Jan 06

Y’know what? Seeings as Creative were making Mp3 players YEARS before Apple, and personally I think that Creative have a far superior set of products.

As for the Podcast/Zencast thing… who really cares?

I’m pretty sure the “Personal On Demand” definition was actually thought of AFTER the initial podcasts were named, as due to Apples flood of advertising, now all MP3 players are referred to as iPods, regardless of manufacturer…

Oh, on note “Despite their slightly less beautiful aesthetic and less intuitive navigation, Creative Zen Media devices offer more functionality (and storage) for less money than Apple devices -“

The navigation software that iPods use is actually a Creative ‘baby’. That’s why there was a huge legal battle recently… which Creative won…

Ray (sunshine) 10 Jan 06

Sure, if you check today, wikipedia gives full credit to Creative for the acronym.

Take the time to roll back the wikipedia page on podcast.

As of the day before this post was made (funny, isnt it?) Creative was not mentioned, rather “some competing mp3 player manufacturers” is used.

As of last October, “some writers” are credited with the name, and a footnote with links shows that the acronym in question had been around since October 2004.

Take a look:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Podcasting&oldid=24441334

So, maybe we can stop bashing zen now?

Warren Parsons 10 Jan 06

Citing Wikipedia as an authoritative source on anything is pretty foolhardy.

vinbarnes 11 Jan 06

A for effort, F for give me a fucking break.

JF, thanks for making my day!

Adam 12 Jan 06

Wow, is there ANYTHING the macheads won’t whine about?

> That said, podcast is one of those words that was poorly
> coined. At least their made-up definition gives it more
> accurate meaning.

Amen. The damn thing isn’t called an iPodcast. And the Creative definition is more instructive and inclusive.

Lots of us — especially those of us who aren’t lemmings — have come to appreciate that there are many fine portable music players that don’t come from Apple.

tom sherman 12 Jan 06

“pod” is a ghey term anyway. rock on, sheep!

Alvin C. 13 Jan 06

It only makes sense that Creative wouldnt suggest that a podcast is an iPod broadcast- all the ignorant masses would be confused and the misguided belief that an iPod is necessary for podcasting would persist. Anyway, I had read that definition- Personal On Demand Broadcasting- some time ago, months before this Zencast site started, so obviously Creative didnt come up with it, they just incorporated it into their approach�.you would do the same thing if you were Creatives CEO. BTW- its one thing to bash them becasue you think they have inferior products, but bashing them for the podcasting definition is just petty.

Podesta 16 Jan 06

Any mention of the iPod, iTunes and iTMS is carefully avoided at the Zencast website, reportedly out of Singapore. That means many consumers will be confused since they do associate Apple with MP3 players like they associate Kleenex with tissues. There should at least be disclaimer on the site.

Podesta 16 Jan 06

Any mention of the iPod, iTunes and iTMS is carefully avoided at the Zencast website, reportedly out of Singapore. That means many consumers will be confused since they do associate Apple with MP3 players like they associate Kleenex with tissues. There should at least be disclaimer on the site.

Podesta 16 Jan 06

Any mention of the iPod, iTunes and iTMS is carefully avoided at the Zencast website, reportedly out of Singapore. That means many consumers will be confused since they do associate Apple with MP3 players like they associate Kleenex with tissues. There should at least be disclaimer on the site.

Wolfgang 16 Jan 06

Well, Apple did not invent poscasts and it did not invent MP3 player either. They have just discover an innovation early on and productized it, like in many cases before.

Radar 24 Jan 06

I could care less what someone calls it. Zencasting = Podcasting = online content. All I care about is that by getting a Zen Vision M, I’ll have a superior product (and it is far superior to anything apple has) for a lower price, and i won’t be giving money to the Apple corporation.

Obvious 06 Sep 06

What is wrong with you people? Doesn’t anyone care that Apple refuses to offer a subscripton service for a monthly fee so that they can instead get you for $1 every time you want to hear a new song? Oh, first you have to spend hundreds to recreate the library of songs you enjoy. That is unbelievable! The fact that Creative and others offers a subscription service so that I can listen to UNLIMITED music and change it whenever I want is a million times stronger reason to bash apple over anyone, and to never, ever, ever, buy an ipod! Oh, did I mention that the ipod batteries are designed to self-expire so people have to buy new ipods every 2 years? Unbelievable! The library technology is there - if you care about your customers and want to build real loyalty - then offer it.