Podcasting for most is an analog for radio and until podcasts are as at hand as radio is, it's market share will be capped. Most people want to be able to press a button their dashboard and here a show, not go search it out, put it on their iPod and then hook that up to their car.

Listening to podcasts takes too long. I can speed read articles and skip the boring bits. Podcasts are too linear. I have even tried playing back at 150% speed, but even that takes too long. Another problem with podcasts is that they are produced by people who can't say things succinctly and in a very interesting way. They seem to mostly like to hear their own voices. What we need is really clever comedians write and produce the stuff. Then it might be entertaining and informative enough to make me tune away from the radio jocks.

I would listen to more podcasts if I could wake up with them(alarm clock), listen to them in my car without burning a CD or loading an USB key. I think that's the missing link.

I think people think the alternative(radio stations) suck but the convenience of only having to turn the radio wins.

the audience has hit its saturation point. if you're not podcasting, either you don't understand it (i.e, you don't need an ipod to consume podcasts), don't know about it, or don't want to do it.

i'd like to see a popular alternative podcasting application rise up. something better than itunes, geared towards the users that don't have ipods. i'd use it. does it exist already? i have no clue, and i consume tons of podcasts. it would definitely help to break the association between podcasting and ipods, which i think is holding some users back.

You can listen to the shows on the web through the flash players most of these guys have on their pages. Is it the effort to listen to the show or the effort to discover the show?

both.

a desktop application allows you a variety of options with respect to obtaining and consuming content. you can listen to content on the provider's webpage, sure, but it narrows your options greatly.

and sure, its not really that tough to discover new content online. something that helps you discover new purely podcasting content just helps to reduce the noise and makes proliferation of the medium easier for people who have a lower tolerance of technology and/or inconvenience. i can find the podcasts i want just fine. but i'm the current audience. you need to make it easier for soccer moms or grandfathers to find podcasts in order to break out of the current stagnation.