It could be possible that someone might disagree with what many others view as the promise of podcasting, or might not possess the foresight to see its possibilities. That in itself is no great crime. Honest disagreements occur even between the informed, and far too few people make the work to even be informed.

It was with this basic philosophy in mind that I first read Dvorak’s claim that podcasting was not really ready for prime time. It was sloppy and uninformed, and propagated several myths which are obviously untrue, and even much of what it did tell you was irrelevent. I began doing podcasts in early September, and I was an early adopter. It’s now the end of October. What does this mean? That the entire buzz around podcasting is only eight weeks old. Dvorak’s criticism seems to me like standing on the keel of a cruise liner as it is being contructed and then complaining that they don’t serve very good Mai Tais.

But I’m able to brush off criticisms from the ill-informed quite easily, although others got a bit hot under the collar about it.

But in his own personal blog, Dvorak continued his offensive:

I wrote a column questioning the overall concept of podcasting for PCMagazine and more than a few bloggers blasted me for not being an immediate booster. So troublemaker Chris Coulter sent me this link to a classic and typical podcast that I have trouble believing is serious. It mostly resembles a guy talking to his dog for hours on end. I still think it’s a put-on. Although there are plenty of techies out there who ramble like this. I always imagine these guys on dates going on and on with their date and and eventually out-talking her. There is some justice in that.

At least, unlike other podcasters, he’s not over-modulated and is very understandable although very adenoidal.

Not content with merely slamming the entire concept of podcasting, he is now taken to actual personal insults of an individual who takes time and energy to develop a podcast solely for the benefit of his listeners. John, here you stray over the line of being merely ignorant and lacking in any kind of vision to actually just being a jerk.

I listen to Geek News Central all the time. Combined with The Linux Link Tech Show, these stand as two examples of programs for geeks and as such they are incredibly successful. If you compare the listening experience I have in listening to an hour of this programming combined to traditional radio programming there is simply no contest: I’d much rather be listening to the podcasts.

Todd, if you read this, take heart. Your listeners can see through the transparent idiocy of Dvorak and his mean-spirited barbs and see them for what they are: the increasingly irrelevent ramblings of someone who has lost any vision. Keep up the good work Todd.

Addendum: According to pubsub.com, Dvorak’s website is ranked 6,054, while Todd’s is ranked 4,616. Obviously he is just trying to ride your coat tails to popularity. 🙂