We're looking into different things to do for our news site, and I'm curious. Does anyone here listen to 'em?
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
What's a podcast? Seriously.
Edit: Just looked it up. Interesting. Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
Podcasts are basically audio blogs. They're called podcasts because the kind of people who like to broadcast their own voice are more likely to own iPods than iPaqs.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Thanks, Tom. I thought it was something more organized at first... Now I'm curious too if they are that common and that listened to.
Posted by camus (Member # 8052) on :
iTunes integrated them into their software to make it a little more organized. I've never really spent much time looking at them, but supposedly they're a lot more popular now that there's a centrally located place to organize and retrieve them.
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
Actually, I think they're called podcasts because the idea is that people listen to the files on the go (i.e. they download the latest update, sync it to their portable MP3 player, and listen on the bus or whatever). The implication being that everybody has an iPod rather than some other device. Added: You're broadcasting to iPods, hence podcasting.
I listen to podcasts at home, not on the go, to get my CBC Radio fix. I get the episodes of the science show, Quirks and Quarks, and listen to them at my leisure rather than whenever it is they're actually on the radio.
I started to do something similar with TV when I got interested in watching Lost but needed to catch up since the season was practically over by the time I decided to start watching -- I just downloaded the episodes and watched them as I felt like it. I liked the method so much that I'm thinking about getting a TV tuner/video capture card for my computer so I can use it as a PVR.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
An e-mail newsletter I receive just had an article about how Podcasts Can Infect Your PC that I thought was very interesting. Until then, I had never heard of Podcasts
They also had this tidbit of interesting information:
quote: To give you some idea of the scorching growth rate, Wikipedia reports that Google showed only 24 hits on the search term podcasts on Sept. 28, 2004. There are 13.7 million hits today.
Farmgirl
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
Just like most blogs, most podcasts are bad. However, there are some very good podcasts out there, just like there are some excellent blogs, and the more podcasts and blogs, the more good ones.
edit: and of course, most "real news stories" are bad as well, so this isn't anything unique to the amateur world; the real news stories just have higher production values that make people think they're less crappy.
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
Most podcasts are bad.
I download the espn radio ones occasionally to listen to on my ipod.
Posted by Lanfear (Member # 7776) on :
Podcasting isn't as popular as the statistics show, IMO. But there kind of fun. As was stated before, when itunes went to 4.9 they added podcasting to the music store. I regularly listening to TWiT (This week in Tech) Leo laporte does it, with alot of the old tech tv guys. Sometimes ill tune in to the engadget podcast or the diggnation one.
Posted by Ben (Member # 6117) on :
I used podcasts to get all of the storycorps stuff from NPR for awhile. but they are not available anymore
Posted by solo (Member # 3148) on :
I listen to the Coverville podcast quite often. It is a show that plays almost exclusively cover songs. It is fully licensed so he is legally allowed to play the songs.
Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :
I tried a few podcast and found them unhelpful. Reading is simply more efficient than listening.
However, I do think podcasting is a great form for interviews and live performances (readings, drama, etc.) -- something where tone and presentation really matter.
That's where I'd put the emphasis. An entertainment columnist/reporter who could really put on a show and be funny and concise and clear might work. A political columnist probably wouldn't unless it's gossipy stuff (depends on your readership).
It'd be great for interviews, but those require a huge investment of time and energy to set up. That'd add a lot of work for someone at the paper.
Posted by RynoW1 (Member # 8365) on :
I listen to podcasts. My favs are: -Engadget -Al Frankin - TWiT -Bill O'Reilly -KCRW's Left, Right, and Center
NPR also has some great ones. I think that podcasting has a lot of potential but there are some REAL bad ones out there.
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