Podcasting is so evolved already, and I haven’t even tried my hand… so, let’s explore this fancy new broadcast communication technique that happens while most sleep, and see what kinda trouble I might be able to get into this time. I mean, I am not an MP3 guy, definitely not an iPod guy. Don’t need the music, I have more than enough things to keep my mind busy. My biggest problem is only choosing one of them at a time.
So, lets’ learn a little about Podcasting. Pretty simple – RSS feeds are just leveraged as a nightly “download list” and then people can listen at their conveience. Sounds like a new format for TIVO to me!
To get me started on this podcasting event, I thought I’d give Yahoo a visit – they have a new Podcasting section and their information seems to be bountiful, so I’ve ‘archived’ a little of it for us here today. There isn’t much to the technical side of things, you kinda gotta record something and put the url to the file in an RSS feed.
But other things I contemplate:
- “should I have a text transcript?”
- What about underscore? Sound FX?
- How long is too long?
- How short is too short?
- How dorky do I sound?
But before we get to all that “How do I podcast” stuff, let’s review the basics, according to Yahoo.
What is Podcasting?
Think of a podcast as a radio show. Each show consists of a series of individual episodes that you can listen to how you want � on your PC, using your MP3 player, or with just a web browser.
If you’ve never listened to podcasts, you’re in for a treat. Sports, comedy, movies, food, politics, music, books, speeches, walking tours, whatever â€â€? you name the topic and you’ll find podcasts about it. Not only do you have incredible choice, you can listen whenever and wherever you want.
You can listen to these episodes one at a time (say using your web browser) or you can ‘subscribe’ to the entire podcast series using software on your PC. When you subscribe to a podcast, all new shows will be automatically downloaded to your computer as they are published. And if you have an MP3 player, the next time you sync your device, your podcasts will be downloaded for listening on the go.
When you enter the world of podcasting, you’re stepping into a realm where anyone and everyone can have a voice and broadcast their opinions and imagination to the world. Have fun exploring, and perhaps you too may feel the urge to become a podcaster. If you do, it’s easy. We’ve created a tutorial to tell you how.
Finding Podcasts
People can and should help each other find stuff on the Internet. So, for any podcast, people can enter “tags” to help describe the podcast. Most sites put the most popular tags on the front page so you can see the different topics, types of shows, or genres that other people used to describe their favorite podcasts. Anytime you see tags around the site, just click on them to find more podcasts with the same tag. And if you want to help, add some tags of your own â€â€? other people will be happy you did!
If you’ve found something you want to listen to right away, just click the “Listen” button to hear it on the Web. And if you like what you hear, subscribe…
Subscribe
Don’t panic! â€â€? It’s almost always free.When you subscribe to a podcast you’ll get the newest episodes delivered right to you as soon as they’re available. To subscribe, though, you’ll need to get some great music software like the Yahoo! Music Engine or Apple iTunes. New episodes will show up there whenever they’re available.
Download
If you just want a copy of a particular episode, you don’t have to subscribe. You can just click the “Download” button to save to your hard disk. Then, manage it and play it like you would any other audio file. (But trust us, you’ll like subscribing.)
On the Go
If you want to listen to a podcast on your MP3 player, it’s easy. Just download the episode to your computer, or subscribe to the series, and use your music software (Yahoo! Music Engine or Apple iTunes) to transfer it to your MP3 player.
Wow! Who would ever thunk up all that stuff?
Well, let me continue to digest and answer my own self-crazed questions until I come back to explain “how to do it!”
Put together your own podcast, that is.
