Mitch Joel sparked an interesting discussion about whether blogs and podcasts should update regularly. There’s huge value in the comments there, so you should check it out.

I just thought I’d add my take here. I think the biggest hurdle is the adoption of RSS. When RSS gains mass adoption, it’ll change things.

And I personally don’t think content needs to be that regular. I’d rather updates come when the blogger/podcaster has better ideas.

Christopher S. Penn made a comparison with Seinfeld:

If Jerry Seinfeld’s show was on whenever he and the cast felt like it, how popular would it have become? Jerry Seinfeld’s show had great content, but part of what made it a success is that the audience knew when and where to find it, every week, same channel.

Personally, I disagree with him on this. The difference is that Seinfeld’s show (one of my favorites, by the way), was only available at that slot. You couldn’t get it after that. You can get blog content whenever you want it.

I think a better comparison would be with book authors – authors don’t write on a schedule, they write when they have ideas.

That’s my take. I think the nature of New Media should allow posts to be less regular. But without mass adoption of RSS, that change won’t come that soon.

Or maybe I’m missing something. What do you think?