It could have been built on any other mechanism, but right now, only RSS with <enclosure> gives us that level of openness, portability, and control. The key is that the RSS feed contains an <enclosure> element with a direct link to the file.

If we remove RSS — or the <enclosure> element — and everything falls apart. We lose the definition of everything. What is podcasting? How is podcasting different from streaming or radio? RSS with an <enclosure> element is the cornerstone of podcasting. It’s not just a technical detail — it’s the very thing that makes a podcasting a podcasting.

Without this distinction, it becomes impossible to tell podcasting apart from YouTube — or even Dropbox. Sure, those platforms might be more convenient, more intuitive, more centralized, with “smart” recommendations and polished interfaces. But they are also controlled: bound by laws, rules, algorithms, and corporate interests. You can call that many things — but if it doesn’t involve RSS with an <enclosure> element, it’s not podcasting.

When does a piece of audio become radio? When it’s broadcast over the airwaves. Before that, it’s just audio. Why does the same exact text get different names depending on how it’s sent? If sent over SMTP — it’s email. If sent over the SS7 signalling protocol — it’s an SMS. Even though the content is exactly the same.

Same with the podcasting. It becomes the podcasting only because it distributing files via RSS with an <enclosure> element. Not content production, feeling, or opinion — just the delivery method.

Oh, right — podcasting is not about content creation. Recording audio or video is production, with its own stages: pre-production, production, post-production. Podcasting only begins at the moment of publishing via RSS.

Now think: what is a podcast?

See — the answer is obvious. No? Let’s try to figure it out together on this page.