‘Serial,’ Podcasting’s First Breakout Hit, Sets Stage for More - NYTimes.com

The future is highly asynchronous

"Podcasts have moved beyond being a nerd curio because all of the friction has been removed from the process, which used to require setting up RSS feeds or cutting and pasting web addresses into a browser. Now, with the advent of ever smarter smartphones, it has become one more push-button technology, allowing consumers to download an app and listen to audio programming at a time of their choosing. If that sounds familiar — Netflix, anyone? — it’s no surprise that it will have similar transformative effects on traditional providers of serious audio programming, which means public radio."

‘Serial,’ Podcasting’s First Breakout Hit, Sets Stage for More - NYTimes.com