You know an internet phenomenon has "gone legit" when specialized products are made to accomodate it. Podcasting gets another shot in the arm, this time from Blue Microphones, and the Snowball USB mic. Blue
calls this the "world's first professional USB microphone." It has a dual-capsule design and a three-way switch so you can alternate between cardioid, cardioid with a minus 10dB pad, and omnidirectional. It runs under Mac OSX and WinXP, and is compatible with both USB 1.0 and 2.0.