Without realizing it, Dave Winer illustrates one of the problems with most podcasts:

Podcasting is great because I can do it, without any expensive hard to use equipment or software, or expensive licenses. I have done webcasts, we had the necessary software and licenses when I worked at Berkman Center. Even so we could only serve a few people at a time. But I can podcast without anyone's permission, and thousands of people can tune in at very low cost. I just record an MP3, link it into a RSS feed, and upload both to a server. Done in minutes, and I didn't need any help.

The "anyone can do it, with stuff that's lying around" is the fallacy. Sure, you can use just a cheap mike and wander around your office/living room/whatever. By doing that, you inflict a ton of ambient noise on your listeners though. To do a podcast that doesn't suck, you actually have to try. Compare anything Dave's done in this area with this, from James Lileks. There's a reason that I'll go out of my way to grab a cast from Lileks, and you'll figure it out by listening.

The "anyone can do it in minutes" theory is like participating in a conference call, on your cell phone, outside, with the wind blowing. It works, but badly.