Topic: I don't understand podcasts.

[Pugnate]

They are just audio files. What the hell is special about that? Why has everyone suddenly jumped on the bandwagon by having their own "podcasts"? I remember when Sirean and I reviewed WarCraft III, I thought it would be cool if we did an audio version of our review. If we did that today, would that be automatically be called a podcast? But even before the ipod there were mp3 players that had storage capacity and websites had audio news items available for download.

What's the big deal?

[Quemaqua]

By putting the word "pod" in it, now it's "cool".  It probably made somebody some money at one point and then just stuck.  The term's continued popularity is likely due to idiots with iPods who never knew anything about technology (and probably still mostly don't) until it became trendy to have MP3 players and computers, since they now comprise a huge chunk of the market and have a much more significant internet presence than they ever used to.

[ender]

You can search them on itunes by category. Every day my new podcasts automatically load onto my iPod and I listen to them through the day. I always have interesting ones, like the MOMA gallery lectures, NPR, etc.

It's easy to use... and I think most people like me say "Hey, this is kind of neat. Oh, it's free. Sweet. Okay, well I'll just subscribe and listen to them... okay, now on to worrying about things that mean something." That ends the discussion.

[Pugnate]

You can search them on itunes by category. Every day my new podcasts automatically load onto my iPod and I listen to them through the day. I always have interesting ones, like the MOMA gallery lectures, NPR, etc.

It's easy to use... and I think most people like me say "Hey, this is kind of neat. Oh, it's free. Sweet. Okay, well I'll just subscribe and listen to them... okay, now on to worrying about things that mean something." That ends the discussion.

OK it makes a lot more sense now. I guess it isn't that compressed audio files didn't exist before, but it is that a lot more people have portable listening devices in the shape of ipods.
I guess my only issue is that podcasts aren't revolutionary. I don't think they deserve the credit that say something like mp3s did. Mp3s (like em or not) changed the landscape of music on PCs.

My sister has an iPod video that looks very pretty and produces pretty good sound. Unfortunately it is already very scratched despite her best efforts.

I do envy the simplicity of the iPod's success, though I really don't mind the price. The iPod has been around for a long time following a free market, and the only reason it costs an arm and a leg is that people are willing to pay that. Apple aren't really forcing people to buy iPods, yet people are willing to pay that much.

I have no issues with that at all, because Apple isn't doing any thing malicious as far as I can tell.

Having said that I have some resentment for the iPod, because as far as I can it isn't anything innovative. It is just a portable hard drive (not a big one at that) containing software that plays music as well as other forms of media. There is very little about the iPod that is innovative, yet it is a massive success. It is so simple that I wish I had thought of it. I suppose resentment is the wrong word, but I think Apple were really lucky with iPod's success.

I think the iPod is one of those products that was long over due, and the market ate it up. I don't understand why something like the iPod didn't come out years before.

Also on the subject of pod casts, Ender can you share some websites with good ones? I am opening a new office soon and won't have my comp with me. I could probably listen to some podcasts through the day like yourself.

[NatchDan]

The main thing that's different about podcasts (true ones, not just MP3s available for download) is the use of RSS feeds to regularly update you through your preferred listening program. Content delivered directly to you. Part of this whole Web 2.0 thing or somesuch. That and the fact that due to the RSS feed the files can be accompanied with a small chunk of text featuring a playlist, links, whatever.

I used to run a podcast collective site - I closed it because of backbiting and infighting on the forums, but it and its content is still up. I did a show with someone called Harmony using Gizmo (Eventually, originally we just did two versions of the same show) called MixTape Science. I recommend that one most, obviously. The RSS feed is still functional too, so you can just add natchcast.com/feed (If I remember correctly) to winamp or whatever and you don't even need to go there.

EDIT

Okay, so apprently it's not there any more. Oh well.

[Cools]

You can blame Adam Curry for starting the trend...

The great thing about podcasts is that they are relatively easy to start which has enabled a bunch of cool people to produce content and get an audience. I listen to a lot of video related casts and it's awesome to hear experts in the field talk about their trade.

[Ghandi]

Que is right, but this led to what everyone else is saying. Everyone thought it was cool, leading to lots of content and updates, which leads to all the rest of that jazz. Surprisingly, though, I have yet to listen to a podcast despite the fact that I have an ipod. Somehow they always struck me as the audio version of youtube. A bunch of idiots talking about nothing. Of course I'm sure there are some good ones out there, but this is what I have come across.

[Quemaqua]

I actually like some.  Plenty are stupid like you say, but a lot of them are pretty close to radio quality.  My thing is that I hate having to subscribe to stuff.  If I want something, I want to download it and check it out, not be tied to some annoying system.  I hate any system that tries to do things for me.

[Antares]

http://www.diggnation.com/

Is awesome. I don't subscribe to the RSS feed, but do download episodes fairly regularly.  They've also got the show on video if you want to watch it that way.  I'm sure people wonder why I'm always grinning like an idiot on the train when I'm listening on my way to work.

[NatchDan]

I didn't know whether it was worth starting a whole new thread for this, but basically a friend of mine runs a web radio station that used to be thriving and now has only me on the schedule. Want to do a show? Go for it.

[Quemaqua]

Nice, I didn't know you did the digital DJ thing.

[NatchDan]

This show's recent, though like I said up there I used to do a podcast. It's fun.

[Quemaqua]

Me and Pyro should totally host a metal show.  And then me and Cobra should totally host a gaming show.

[NatchDan]

You're basically playing to a crowd of a proto-facebook site that's been around for years beforehand. Forums, journals, galleries, but Tom hadn't even considered creating MySpace when this site was founded. At the moment the maximum listeners is about five, but if the station had more uptime (ie, more shows than just me) I'm sure it'd increase.

[Cobra951]

Me and Pyro should totally host a metal show.  And then me and Cobra should totally host a gaming show.

 

Where did that come from?

[Quemaqua]

I have no idea.  I just thought it sounded fun.  I really don't have the time to do a podcast even if I wanted to, heh.

[idolminds]

I could do a podcast. I'd be known as the guy with poor audio quality and cuts out a lot.