11/20/04 Matt’s News
What is a Podcast (vs. Audioblogs & Webcasts) ?
When anyone asks what podcasting is, we can easily find technical
definitions and short histories of it online (e.g. via
Wikipedia). I believe
that the harder concept to grasp is really how it is different from existing
online media, such as audioblogs or even webcasts. Just where do we draw the
line to call something a podcast? To distinguish what a podcast is, I
produced a comparative table to show the relative difference between these
online audio media. This table is by no mean complete and I aim to build on
it based on the comments and suggestions you pot.
|
|
Webcast | Audioblog | Podcast |
|
Requirement
|
Streaming server / client software | Web browser & mp3/wav audio player | Podcast Aggregator Software |
|
Delivery Method
|
Streaming | Download | Download/Torrents |
|
Published via
|
Web page | Blog | RSS 2.0 feed (subscription) |
|
Timeliness
|
Real Time / Pre-recorded |
Pre-recorded | Pre-recorded (Time-shifting) |
|
Cost
|
Expensive | Cheap | Cheap |
|
Technical Expertise
|
High | Low | Medium |
|
Examples
|
SHOUTcast |
Audioblogging |
Last 100 Podcasts |
Podcasting Resources
podcasting. I listened
to some various podcasts and I must say that I was very impressed by the
quality. It was great to listen to some of
the
sessions from Bloggercon while doing the laundry! In the past I used my
commute to catch up on reading my downloaded RSS feeds. Now I think I am
going to instead invest the time to listen to podcasts on my iPod Mini.
The technology, if it continues its rapid adoption curve, will timeshift
professional radio programming to help it reach an even larger audience -
the continually mobile - while also giving amateurs a chance to showcase
their stuff as well. The downside, of course, is that there’s a lot more
great content I want to “consume!”
If you have an iPod, definitely download
iPodder and start playing. Here are
some resources to get you started…
- Earnings Cast packages
quarterly investor conference calls that are available on the Web into a
podcast format. If your company is already making this audio available on
the Web, why not send them the MP3 file to list? - Podcast Alley is quickly
becoming the medium’s new Yahoo! The online directory lists 419 different
programs, including one of my favorites -
the
Engadget podcast. - Speaking of Engadget, they
show you
step-by-step how to create your own professional podcast. Alternately,
here’s a simpler approach that
shows you how to create a more basic podcast. - Podcast Research, out of
the University of Buffalo, is a site that studies the podcasting phenomena
and to discover if podcasting can become a sustainable mass medium.
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