Podcasting - 3rd Quarter 2006
Greetings,
We’ve chosen an exciting topic for this ClearPoint. If you are not familiar with podcasting, then you will definitely not want to miss this issue. I’m hooked and I hope you will be too.
We were hoping to have the new Clearbuilt website ready for you by now. However, we’ve had to focus on work for our clients. It’s an old and tired story about the cobbler’s kids having no shoes. We are very close though.
Regards,
Neal
Radio Style Programming On Demand
NPR has some programs I really like, but I never get to hear them because my life doesn’t fit into their schedule. Does yours? Or are you like me when you get in your car to go somewhere, tune in, then find your favorite show is almost over? There is a solution!
It is called podcasting. Podcasting allows me to choose when and where I want to listen to radio programs. It’s like radio on demand. Let’s explore.
Some radio stations have been broadcasting on the airwaves and over the web simultaneously for years. This works great for receiving stations that are too far away to be received by your radio. However, you still have to adjust to their schedule. Podcasting is changing all that.
Definition
- Podcasting - is a method of delivering audio programs over the Internet for playback on a computer or portable music device.
- Podcasts - are the radio programs.
Facts
- The name podcasting comes from iPOD (the extremely popular portable MP3 player from Apple) and broadCASTING. The iPod was instrumental in cultivating the popularity of podcasts.
- Podcasting has been extended to include video programs, but we will stick to audio for the purpose of this discussion. Once you understand audio podcasts, the leap to video podcast is very small.
What type of podcasts are available?
There is probably a podcast for any topic of interest.
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Examples:
How Do I Start?
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Step 1. Find a podcast
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You find podcasts via the web using any search engine. Search on “comedy podcast” for example. You can also use a tool like iTunes (see iTunes below).
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Step 2. Download to your computer
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You click on a link to download the podcast to your computer. Podcasts are almost always in MP3 format (see MP3).
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Step 3. Listen
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You can listen to the podcast via your computer or copy to your portable MP3 player.
Note- iTunes - iTunes is music management software from Apple that can be downloaded over the web and allows you to manage your audio content on your computer and your iPod. Sadly, since iTunes is free from Apple, it will only copy music and podcasts to an iPod. If you have a different brand of MP3 (see MP3 below) player, then iTunes will not work for you easily.
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Step 4. Subscribe (optional)
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How do I know when new podcasts are ready? You can subscribe to podcasts. This mean you will be using software to automatically check for new podcasts of programs you like. The subscriptions are free and use RSS. Yes…the same RSS that has enabled blogs to become so popular.
MP3
MP3 is just a file format. Microsoft Word uses .doc. Microsoft Excel uses .xls. Text files use .txt. MP3 files use, well, .mp3. Simple right?
There is nothing earth shattering or technically complicated about the MP3 file format. It just happened to be the compression standard that was in the right place at the right time and software vendors embraced.
Compression is used to make the files much smaller. You sacrifice listening quality for file size, but given that most MP3 players are small devices intended for headphone use, it is a great trade-off. After all, that is how you can fit so many songs on such a small device.
Myths/Truths
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Myth #1 - You need an iPod to listen to podcasts
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iPods are the most popular MP3 players, but any MP3 player will work.
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Myth #2 - You need to use iTunes to subscribe to podcasts
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Any software or website that manages RSS feeds will work. These are known as podcatchers, podcast clients, or feed aggregators. Here is a list of aggregators from podcastingnews.com
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Myth #3 - You need a portable MP3 player to listen to podcasts
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It has been estimated that over half of the podcast listeners use the computer instead of a portable MP3 player. For those of you using Windows, you should already have the Windows Media Player software installed. In addition, here are 4 popular music software packages that have free versions that will allow you to listen to podcasts.
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Truth #1 - you’ll want a high-speed Internet connection
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Even though the files are compressed…a 50 minute talk show can easily consume 50MB which would be painfully slow to download over a dial-up Internet connection.
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Truth #2 - podcasts are free
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To date, podcasts are free. This may be surprising, but it makes sense if you consider that radio programs are free.
Summary
Keys To Success for Podcasting:
- Portable MP3 players can hold a lot of music and spoken word content.
- The Internet is a great medium to transport the files from the creator to the listener.
- RSS allows users to subscribe to podcasts and therefore always have the current programs ready for listening.
- Creating podcasts is easy and inexpensive. (check out Audacity)
- Hosting podcasts only requires a small monthly hosting fee. (check out SwitchPod and LibSyn)
- Users are set free from the bonds of scheduling.
It is no wonder that podcasting has gained such popularity. So the next time you see a headphone-wearing-jogger…you’ll probably wonder what they are listening to.
Filed by nb on September 13th, 2006 under ClearPoint
Your podcasting notes are very timely. I have been wishing that I could “TIVO” the NPR shows that I like.
Comment by Donna Mincey — September 14, 2006 @ 12:32 pm