I read this blog post today on Read/WriteWeb titled Will Podcasting Survive?  While I agree with any of Alex's points that it has competition from other media platforms, and has limited use, I think there is some real value to podcasting.

It is very likely that business podcasting has a niche market.  With any new technology, or use of technology, the best way to determine where it fits in is to test it against multiple platforms, in many circumstances and for many purposes.  That is exactly what is happening for podcasts.  After many people have tested podcasts to replace things like radio stations or videos on YouTube, what they've discovered is that those are not the ideal uses of Podcasting. 

We, at Mzinga, have found it to be imeasurably useful as stand alone messages as well as integrated into our community platform.  Why:

   
• Channels: Everyone consumes information differently.  Some people would rather listen than read, and vice versa.  We found that one of the keys to a successful community is offering different channels for communication, interaction and consumption. 
   
• Information: It offers a quick way to gather and relay information to the member/consumer.  It is much easier to capture and relay a 10-15 minute interview by recording and posting that interview than if we recorded, transcribed and posted an interview.  Once posted, someone would have to read that interview.  If we can offer both an abridged version for the 30 second read, and the podcast itself, it can be imeasurably more useful. 
   
• Opportunity: Asking the founder and CEO of Prosper.com to sit down for a 15 minute podcast interview is a lot easier than asking him to give a speech at a conference, write an article about his experience as CEO, etc. 

While Podcasts are certainly not right for every medium, I think we will find, as community and idea sharing become more prevalent in the business world, podcasts will gain ground.  They may have a niche market, but more people in that market will embrace podcasting as a great way to offer content and ideas to there constituents.

Podcast away!