The Problem I have with BlogTalkRadio

February 24, 2008

Scoble and Winer went on record to say BlogTalkRadio’s new phone in podcast feature is revolutionary.

Call their special phone number: 646-200-0000. It records the call. When you’re done it creates an RSS 2.0 feed with an enclosure that’s an MP3 of the call.

The address of the feed is a function of the phone number you called from. I just called in a podcast from my Nokia N95, which they added to this feed:

http://cinch.blogtalkradio.com/8583429663

That’s all there is to it! No registration. They have a web page for it, but it’s completely unnecessary.

While I agree on the beauty of its simplicity, I can’t help but wonder why BlogTalkRadio chose to use my phone number in the URL? I mean, some people may feel comfortable giving their phone number out to the internet, but I don’t want to advertise it. I do realize I can use my GrandCentral number as a call solution, but then that limits the mobility of the solution. I may consider using it for my podcast, but only through GrandCentral. Anyway, I think this started out as a good idea, but ultimately failed to consider privacy. Let’s hope iteration 2 addresses this.