In yesterday’s [Daily Source Code](Daily Source Code), Adam Curry said something to the effect that podcasting was created because people were fed up with what mainstream radio had to offer them. Incidentally, today I saw a commercial for something the overexcited voice on TV called “the first Austrian podcasting platform”. The ad was for a website created for the worst Austrian national radio called OE3, where they simply put up recorded, distilled, concise versions of their awful programming. Among these recordings are highlights such as “Transatlantic Sisters”, a gossip podcast, or “Best of Comedy”, something I can only assume refers to what these people regard as funny.
Now, calling this mess a “platform” is so ridiculous. It’s not a platform, it’s a closed website which lets you download parts of their programming. There is no, say, option of rating these shows, there’s no possibility of uploading your own shows, there are no shownotes or anything even remotely close; it’s simply part of that radio’s godawful website. It is, plain and simple, bullshit. I can envision the marketing hacks being all giddy about having once again managed to take something new, interesting and genuine and then turn it into another tool to promote their own creativity lacking, bland, gruesome piece of mind-numbing mainstream crap.
By the way, while researching Austria’s podcasting community (which by the way doesn’t need its own platform, because, and I guess that’s another thing the good people at OE3 haven’t noticed, the Internet doesn’t need national restrictions; there’s a shitload of podcast directories out there containing Austrian podcasts as well), I stumbled upon the BZÖ podcast. In case your memory is failing you, the BZÖ was founded a few months back (which I, being the ever so Austrian political commentator, of course mentioned here) and has been more or less ignored during the last few local elections. Well, and now they have a podcast. I listened for a minute or two, and it’s basically mainstream news read by some guy with an extremely drab voice and from a right wing angle. Go figure. If you want a taste yourself, here’s a direct link to an MP3.