Podcasting made the BusinessWeek "Best Of 2005" list under best ideas, and the iPod nano made the list for best products. Adam Curry also made the list for spurring the growth of podcasting, and Steve Jobs for the iPod nano.

Podcasting
Thanks in part to Adam Curry, the concept of producing your own audio or video program, and distributing it to a potential audience of millions over the Internet is a reality. What started as a group of independent home-brew productions has caught the eye of big media, including Disney, Clear Channel Communications, NBC, NPR, and more.

From the article: "Say you're crazy about wine. Along comes some free technology that makes it a snap to create your own radio show and distribute it over the Internet. On a whim, you decide to do a show on wine from your living room, call it GrapeRadio and, within months, have more than 10,000 weekly listeners."

The iTunes Music Store lists thousands of podcasts, mostly free, covering a dizzying array of topics from the esoteric and obscure, to daily news broadcasts.

iPod nano
Thin is the theme when it comes to Apple's iPod nano. BusinessWeek is impressed with the technological marvel of the nano, noting its color screen capable of displaying photographs, diminutive size that's still recognizable as an iPod, and that it is amazingly thin.

The iPod nano replaced the iPod mini earlier this year, and quickly became a success, outselling other iPod models. The nano comes in either a 2GB model for US$199, or a 4GB model for $50 more ($249). Currently, the only serious competition for the nano is Apple's own video capable iPod.

BusinessWeek also included Steve Jobs and Adam Curry in the Best Of list. Both were included for iPod related achievements, and Mr. Jobs was also mentioned for movies from his other company, Pixar.

The iPod became a recurring theme throughout this year's "Best Of" list, overshadowing other electronic gadgets, technologies, and even people.