PODCASTING. I was just thinking how different technologies connect with different denominations and church streams.
2004 - WORDS
Although the emerging church people were well into blogging by 2004, there was a huge upsurge of blog publishing that year which attracted the Reformed folk who love to write and read words. Creating your own RSS feeds and aggregating others was the rage. Blogging became respectable. The PDF file became a stable form of publishing. Technology for layered PDF's with multimedia (including movies) was available but no one in the church really used it.
2005 - SOUNDS
By the end of this year, Podcasting may have won over the Baptists and others who love preaching and sermons. If the podcasting movement goes from word based sermons to music based tracks and experiences, then the Charasmatics might kick in. The emerging PodJockeys might not necessarily be the most famous preachers. Maybe a few conference speakers will sell their "enhanced podcasts" with chapter breaks (now enabled in iTunes 4.9) as audio versions of their books. Or replacements for their books.
Here's an interesting convergence: The DJ's have been adding words to their sounds. Now the Podcasters will be adding music to their audio. Somehow, the two will meet in the middle.
2006 - MOVING IMAGES
Maybe I am stereotyping here (forgive me) but Video Blogging might take off with the Pentecostals and others who already do a lot with video. Or maybe the podcasters will want to add some visuals to their audio feed. Or even better, maybe the underground movement of Video Jockeys (VJ's) will have a wider audience to show their creations. Either way, as broadband becomes standard and digital cameras accept video as well as still shots, video blogging or its new forms will be popular.
Now if only I can get some better lighting and a can of Jimmy Swaggart hairspray . . .
Further:
Jonny Baker has more about podcasting.
Or read my "Podcasting and Godcasting"