Podcasts: Time Shifted Radio

Think of your favorite over-the-air news, music, comedy, talk, or educational radio program. Wouldn't it be great to be able to listen to it when it is convenient for you instead of making yourself available to listen at a specific time?  Wouldn't it be even better if someone else recorded it, sent it to you without you having to think about it, and then gave you a heads up that it is ready when you are?  Podcasts originated specifically to fill that need for flexibility and portability for program listeners.

 

By definition, a Podcast is a serialized audio program made available to your prefered device (PC, MP3 player, or audio enabled cell phone) through an RSS ("Really Simple Syndication") feed.  RSS feeds developed as an alternative to bookmarking Web pages and allow a user to be notified when a site's content is updated.[4] You may already use RSS feeds to obtain your daily text news or keep up with your favorite blogs.  Podcasts take this a step further through the use of audio enclosures you can download automatically or manually when the feed is updated.  If you don't currently use RSS, don't lose interest because it sounds like some complicated alphabet soup!  It really is "Really Simple" to find and subscribe to podcasts.

 

The first use of the term "podcasting" is commonly attributed to Ben Hammersley in his article "Audible Revolution" and made its appearance in 2004.[1]  This combination of the terms "iPod" and "broadcasting" was widely adopted to describe audio programs obtained through specialized "podcatcher" software by the end of the same year. Although there are a number of creators of audio programming who call their material a podcast because of the popularity of the term, it is not a true podcast unless it is available for download through a feed and contains more than one episode.  Streaming-only programs are "audiocasts" rather than "podcasts" because they are not portable to other devices.

 

Podcasts have increased in popularity to the point that everyone wants to get in on the action. This is a great thing for listeners, because there are now programs available in just about any area of interest.  Podcasts are inexpensive and easy to produce, so even nonprofessional, specialized broadcasters can create entertaining and informative content.  Technology? Music? Harry Potter? Knitting? Fly-fishing? Book reviews? Really, really bad poetry? Podcasters have your interests covered.

 

 Many podcast directory sites exist that are designed specifically to help you search for podcasts in your areas of interest. Podcast.com and PodFeed.net are both examples of easy to use directories that list a broad range of podcaster submitted feeds.  Podcast directories allow you to search by keywords and access podcasts by lists of topics.  Many podcast directories also now include a way to track and listen to podcasts online for individuals who do not have a portable MP3 player and podcatcher software.

 

2. Podcast Links on Web Pages

Devices which have built-in podcast listening functions such as Apple's iPod and Microsoft's Zune have podcast directories built into their device management software.  Each of these directories has its strengths and weaknesses. 

 

The iTunes directory is structured so that podcast seekers are drawn to the featured lists of podcasts, which include a confusing "view all" link for each category or genre of podcasts but includes only featured podcasts, leading the viewer to think that the podcasts listed are the only ones available.  To find additional podcasts in your area of interest, you must access search from within the podcast directory.

 

The Zune directory included in the Zune Marketplace software (available without owning a Zune device) lists a much smaller number of podcasts.[3] Podcasts are reviewed by the Zune staff prior to the addition to the directory, so podcasts listed will usually have good content and acceptable production values.  As a side effect of time-consuming quality control there is less variety available, and commercially produced podcasts are more likely to be listed and featured than unfinanced productions. Additionally, the search utility available in the Zune Marketplace only searches the titles of the podcasts.  Few podcast titles contain keywords that fully describe their content, which makes it more difficult to find podcasts in your areas of interest.

 

Both the iTunes and the Zune directory provide the ability to subscribe to unlisted podcasts by entering the URL of the feed into the software.  This allows you to find podcasts through other sources and add them to your podcast management pages.

 

Most browsers, including Firefox[6], and Internet Explorer[5], now include functionality to display and subscribe to feeds when you click on an RSS link. Browser subscription works very well for text feeds, but most people prefer a specialized "podcatcher" software which will automatically download each episode of a podcast as it becomes available.

 

Specialized podcatcher software gives you a number of options.  You can specify how often you want to check the feed for new episodes, whether or not you want the software to automatically download new episodes, and the download folder for your podcasts.  If your MP3 player does not have a podcast directory function, podcatcher software can place podcasts into the synchronization folder for your device to be synchronized at your convenience.

 

Device specific software such as iTunes or the Zune Marketplace are known for being resource-intensive applications, although they are very well-designed for managing podcasts even if you do not own the player the software is designed for.  The built-in podcast directory is also very convenient for getting you started on finding podcasts.

 

You may prefer to install a standalone option like Juice. Juice works on Windows, Mac, and Linux.  It is easy on your system resources, device-independent, and will not try to sell you anything.  The documentation for the software is also very good and will get you up and running quickly. Juice does not contain a podcast directory, but you can use any online podcast directory to search for programming.

 

That's it!  You should now be able to utilize podcasts to time-shift some of your favorite radio content as well as find alternate content to traditional radio programming.  Here's hoping you find some terrific programs you wouldn't find on your radio dial!

  Podcasts: Time Shifted Radio by Jill Nojack is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Distribution of this work requires crediting Jill Nojack as the author and providing a link to IndieHeart.com