FeedBurner, which we've been using here for some time, has been bought by Google. What hasn't been bought by Google lately?

I like FeedBurner, which provides a simple way to give your RSS feed a little more juice. I also use FeedBlitz, a quick way to allow users to sign up for e-mails that contain links to your news stories. Both are quick and simple.

The part of the acquisition that has me most interested is this, from the FeedBurner blog:

Forrester Research asked 15 of the largest interactive marketing agencies (think web designers and online marketing companies) to rate the most important emerging technologies for impacting their design practices (see The Emerging Technologies That Matter Most To Interactive Agencies). Their top answer: mobile devices.

Other top emerging technologies of the 30 mentioned:

• Online video
• Ajax
• Social networks

No, I don't mean Down with Tyranny, though I'm certainly in favor of that, too. I read Toby's post yesterday about the most important emerging technologies and how mobile devices are at the top of the list. Lo and behold isn't there an article in today's USA Today about multitaskers gone wild who are text messaging on their mobile devices while driving.

Perhaps you're guilty of steering with your pinkies as your thumbs text away. If you are, shame on you. Keep your paws on the wheel and eyes on the road and wait until you slide into that parking spot to respond to that message. Better yet, take the train to work and text message like crazy.

If a geek records a podcast, and no one downloads it, does it make a sound?

Just like the rhetorical “tree in the forest” we do know that podcasts are heard, mostly by nerds and younger enthusiasts, but they are comparably quiet when compared to other social media such as blogs, wikis and social networking.

A recent study by Bridge Ratings has found that only about 1% of the U.S. population listened to podcasts last year. Unfortunately, the real figure is likely much lower as this number comes from a number of interviews conducted with a “podcast panel.”

Want to test the theory yourself? Try asking 100 friends and family if they listen to podcats and I’ll bet, with the exception of 20 and early 30 somethings, the vast majority will never have heard of a podcast.

Now the podcasting enthusiasts will cry havoc and take me to task for this, but only because their enthusiasm has no temper (and the broadcast waves are clouding their heads. It’s okay guys, I don’t have anything against podcasting. In fact, I have my own podcast (The Intranet Podcast) and think it’s a fantastic medium, but it has no where near the reach of blogging, wikis or social networking.

Nonetheless there are podcasters and listeners and it will undoubtedly begin to become more popular as it gathers steam. But it will not won’t explode in the manner of social networking, as exemplified by MySpace and YouTube (both in the top 8 most trafficked sites on the Internet). According to the Bridge Ratings study, a projected seven million Americans will download and listen to podcasts every week by 2010, with an additional 21.4 million listening to a minimum of four podcasts every month. That’s a little more than 5% of the population that is expected to listen to podcasts every week, several years from now. This is hardly a revolution.

For once, I think podcasting on the intranet might overtake the use of that on its predecessor. Read how IBM employees are podcasting on the IBM intranet (see Podcasting @ IBM).

Do you listen to podcasts? Do you know many others that do? Let us know what you think by posting a comment below.

I know that you already are tired of reading about the iPhone, so I'm going to head into another direction: (First, though, watch this very funny iPhone video by the NY Times technology guru David Pogue) Should your university or institution use existing platforms such as flickr or YouTube to publicize and promote your multimedia?