Interesting news bits and worthwhile reads from around the web:
Ten years of podcasting: Ars Technica has produced a retrospective on the history of podcasting. It is fairly technical, but also includes interesting insight into the growth of a medium as broadband penetrated home use of the Internet. Also– audio clips of the earliest podcasts. And — some good photos, including one of “podfather” Adam Curry. [Ars Technica]
Distortion of Sound: Audiophiles will rejoice in viewing this 20-minute video produced by audio component maker Harman. The celebrity-sparkly production evalngelizes hi-rez (High Fidelity) music reproduction for the masses. It’s a veiled advertisement, but less for Harman directly than for the value of high-quality listening generally. Skeptics might note a lack of realistic consumer solutions that preserve the convenience of digital listening. But along the way there’s some good music and sound bites. [Distortion of Sound]
Spotify for Windows Phone: when Spotify announced its mobile free-listening plan last December, smartphone users were delighted. but not if they were on the Windows Phone platform — thoseSspotify loyalists were left behind with a promise to catch up soon. It ook eight months, but now Spotify’s free Shuffle feature, whereby you can listen to an artist’s entire discography on demand, free of charge, on a phone, is open to the Windows mobile platform. [CNET]