<![CDATA[Fruitcast Blog » Portable Media Expo Recap: James over at Fruitcast writes about “Audible’s attempt to jump into the podcasting marketing” (note the irony that this is presented as though Fruitcast isn’t attempting the same jump):
There’s not much we can add to the discussion that hasn’t already been eloquently stated. Audible stumbled a bit, but probably would have recovered had Mitch Ratcliffe not come along and finished them off with an awkward campaign intended — ironically — to defend them.
James—So, you point to Dave’s damning posting about Audible, call that a “stumble” and condemn me for standing up to him? Gawd, if Audible had attacked its competitors when entering the market, as you are here, that would have been a stumble.
I’m glad you guys are in the market. There is an incredible need for competition, not this kind of back-stabbing. By contrast, I stuck to the facts when talking about Om Malik’s pointing to your offering. Here’s everything I said about Fruitcast:
In response to Om: Om points to what he describes as “viable” alternatives to Audible, such as Fruitcast. They may be viable as businesses and more power to them, but they are also not offering what Audible does: In addition to being able to audit listenership, a critical factor for advertisers who want to take podcasting seriously, Audible’s fees also cover all bandwidth, hosting and reporting costs.
In response to criticism from Dave that I “attacked” Om: Om’s a big boy, he can take some criticism. I find it problematic that he took a one-sided view of the world, a party line if you will. If we want to think about the nature of the market, we have to think about a variety of business models competing, not just one. His contention that Fruitcast is doing what Audible is doing is flatly incorrect; it’s exactly the kind of apples-to-oranges comparisons you love to send up. So, get off the high horse, okay? Om can take care of himself and you can focus on the good points that might help move podcasting two steps forward, because I am confident that if we can do some good together.
And, for some reason, you think I was talking about Fruitcast specifically rather than about the challenges of measurement in podcasting in the link you provided.
To take a phrase from Ron Burgundy, “Stay classy, James.” Note, I am addressing you, not your company.
Technorati Tags: competition, Fruitcast, Om Malik, podcast, podcast expo, podcasting, Winer
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