Podcasts: The Future of Entertainment

The world of entertainment is about to be turned on its head again.  First it was the invention of speech and stories, theater quickly came after and still holds an audience, then the written word made it possible to enjoy alone.  Movies, radio and television made it even more accessible to everyone at any time.

But the big question is where does it go from here?

Virtual reality is coming and is predicted to bring entertainment to another level.  TV screens are now in amazing HD and becoming larger and larger.  Movie theaters are launching into the 3-D or some cases 4-D to add even more.

The thing is, in my opinion, none of these will change the entertainment landscape as much as podcasts.

Quick aside, there are four types of activities: actively/active, actively/passive, passively/active and passively/passive.  Each one is a much different experience:

Actively/active means you are actively participating and have your entire attention span on the activity.  Writing as I am now and working (at least that’s what your boss hopes) would be to good examples.  Something as simple as engaging in a conversation would also fill this space.

Actively/passive are the non-entertaining parts of the day.  You are actively doing something, but very little of your attention needs to be devoted to the task.  Commuting, laundry, cleaning, and buying groceries are just a small sample size of these activities.

Passively/active is currently our biggest area of entertainment.  Watching TV or a movie, surfing the internet, and reading a good book all fit these criteria.  Definitely entertaining, but one-way input from your source to you.

Passively/passive in the past has been very simple it is either putting on the radio or listening to music.  Well in the past 10 years that has changed dramatically with podcasts.

The great thing is anyone can simultaneously do an actively/passive (aka chore) and passively/passive activity (entertainment/educational).  It is why everyone listens to the radio while driving or puts on the favorite album while mindlessly cleaning up.  Well, that is no longer is true.

Big disclaimer: I don’t love music, I like music, but I would never turn on an album and just listen. To me understanding a deep love of music is akin to explaining why riddles and puzzles are really fun and not just boring and tedious.

But now back to these mindless tasks, why do them alone when you can be listening to a Podcast?  Do you want to learn something, be entertained or a bit of both?  Of Course!  In part 2, I will give my recommendations for the best podcasts.

But for now, everyone says VR is the future.  If I am in a VR world, that will be amazing, but nothing else will ever be accomplished.  I will spend an hour being fully immersed and probably loving every minute, but at the end the dishes still need to be done.  Give me an amazing podcast and I will laugh and learn and at the end have commuted home, cleaned my home, and fully stocked the refrigerator.  I will take laughing and learning while accomplishing goals over VR every day.