Odeo as we know it is gone.
Odeo Bought Back From Investors – TechCrunch

あいやー、Podcastingなんてあまり興味がないので全然知らんかったw
TechCrunchの記事も、読んでるつもりで華麗にスルーしていたらしいww
改めて読み返してみると、なんどもヤヴァイ、ヤヴァイって記事が出てたのね。

My patience with Odeo has run out.
Odeo had tools to listen and sync, and a directory (iTunes, iTunes,and iTunes), but lacked the feature that everyone was looking forward to: the podcast creator. It was the sole feature that made Odeo different from iTunes. Fans eagerly awaited its release.
Odeo Disappoints – TechCrunch

Odeo released a new service today called Twttr, which is a sort of “group send” SMS application.

If this was a new startup, a one or two person shop, I’d give it a thumbs up for innovation and good execution on a simple but viral idea.
But the fact that this is coming from Odeo makes me wonder – what is this company doing to make their core offering compelling? How do their shareholders feel about side projects like Twttr when their primary product line is, besides the excellent design, a total snoozer?
Odeo Releases Twttr – TechCrunch

Odeo’s Audioblogger, which allowed users to post audio to a blogger.com blog via a telephone call, is being shut down as of November 1 and will enter the DeadPool.
Audioblogger Joins DeadPool – TechCrunch

面倒くさいので斜め読みしかしてないんだけど、要するに、SNSSMSもダメBlogもダメで、単なる番組リストではiTunesに適う筈もなく、唯一の差別化要因になり得た作成ツールは遂に提供されることなく、結局、創業者が別会社を作りVCや他の株主からOdeoの資産を買い戻して傘下に入れ再出発って訳か。それにしても$5milとはカネ持ってたんだな。

なんでこのような羽目になったかについては、GigaOMに書いてある(TechCrunchの記事からもリンクされている)。

Last year Williams wrote a widely read, much-bookmarked post titled “Ten Rules for Web Startups3.” “Be Narrow,” he said, “Be Tiny.” Today, he flat-out admitted “I was working on Odeo at the time I wrote that, and I was ignoring most of those rules.”
Evan Williams: How Odeo Screwed Up – GigaOM