Everything comes in cycles

Obviously the avian flu is a big issue right now, since it poses such a potential threat. Scientists are saying that the world is due for a pandemic, because they come in cycles, and we haven't had one since 1918. It seems that life itself is cyclic in every way; the regeneration of life, influenza, things of that nature, but also the "news cycle", the economy, etc. An article on www.businessweek.com called "Searching for the Pod of Gold" mused about the different ways that major corporations are trying to make money from podcasting. The article suggested that coporations may try subscriptions and advertising, but what I found most intersting was the fact that companies are considering having podcasters say product names on air, which the article states is much like how things were done in the early days of radio.

Podcasting is the next step in a continuing media cycle. Tekkies are podcasting, just like in the early days of radio when tekkies broadcast on ham radios. Now podcasting is on the verge of exploding into a huge arena of media, as plans are being set to podcast various commercial radio, television shows, and music videos, along with the podcasting done by regular people from the comfort of their own homes. The parallels are eerie.

So, what's next? I guess it's hard to speculate from my position outside the epicenter of the media core...although it's pretty safe to say that newspapers are going to have to evolve in order to keep up with the trends, and to continue to make profits. Maybe corporations will start charging fees to enter sites...but in the world of free blogs, it's highly doubftul. Who knows. What I do know, is that something will happen eventually, maybe in an updated version of the penny press? Everything is cyclic.