Blight

iPods and podcasts

I'm sure you have all heard enough about how great, sexy, and cool iPods are. I know I did, especially before I got one of my own. Now, as the owner of a sleek black little number, I completely understand the obsession.

Allow me to indulge myself in a couple sentences of praise for my new toy. The iPod owes its success to many things, but certainly one of those is the interface. It is so good that the controls require no explanation. Although I may not be the best proof point for this, my iPod always does what I intend for it to do. For the iPod nano specifically, I am especially impressed with the battery life. My 2GB device is all flash memory, that means no moving parts (small spinning hard disk drives were required in the iPod mini line), and extremely long battery life. Yesterday I listened to it for almost 8hrs straight, and the battery indicator still read that about 30% of capacity remained when I returned home from work.

As a physical unit, the iPod nano is very solid, functional, beautiful, and a pleasure to use. What makes it really shine is the accompanying software and content distribution mechanism - iTunes. Yes, iTunes delivers music and legal purchase of that. Ok, so what? For the most part we can already get the music we want, through CDs, radio, or otherwise. Enter podcasts.

If you have already experienced the diverse world of podcasts, be patient as I extol the virtues to those who have not. In a very naive sense, one can think of podcasts as 30 minute snippets of commercial free radio. -- Indeed if you look at the podcast listing on iTunes, you will see most of the major media companies represented. CNN, NBC, CBC, CBS, ABC, etc. Did you notice I threw CBC in there? And yes I know that podcasts won't likely be ad free for long. -- However, podcasts are much more than that. Imagine a selection of tens of thousands of niche programming. Now imagine the majority of said programming being fresh, honest, and created by your peers. It's real and iTunes really makes it painless to take advantage of the content through slick subscription and on-demand delivery. It is practically the video-on-demand wetdream come true, but for audio.

Granted, content created by your peers is not always worth consuming, but the good news is that the barriers involved in creating podcasts work in the favour of consumers in both directions. First, the barrier to entry is much lower than that of creating video content, which opens the door to many more content producers, especially beyond the major media companies. Second, the barrier to entry is high enough to discourage podcast spam (the way we see blog spam) and people with little motivation to create valuable work (the way we see a plethora of blogs about various boring and pointless things aka the "I missed the bus this morning" blog). If you want to make a podcast, you can do it, all you need is a microphone and Internet access, but the effort involved will require enough dedication that I don't see people doing it (creating regular podcasts to which people will be inclined to subscribe to) unless their hearts are really into it.

Part of what has driven me to these conclusions is the great content that I have been enjoying the past few days. Let me outline my recent listening choices with brief comments:

• Metro Morning from CBC Radio - content from established media, this fits the "30 minute snippets of commercial free radio" description perfectly, give or take a few minutes. Some good interviews, but nothing I couldn't hear if I was actually listening to the radio. Still, it is a great bonus that I can listen to it on demand, on my schedule, even pausing when a coworker comes to talk with me -> podcast link <-
  
• The Al Franken Show - content from a professional celebrity, this may fit the "30 minute..." description, but keep in mind that this serious political commentary from the intelligent SNL comedian doesn't readily play over Toronto airwaves. Again, listening to it on demand is perfect -> podcast link <-
  
• The Nintendo RetroCast - ahh, my first breath of fresh air, content from a couple of guys that could have easily been your friends back in highschool. I highly recommend this podcast as it flows like a conversation with your best friends, doesn't feel scripted or forced, and had me hard pressed to not snicker and laugh. I would love to do something like this with my crew. The best part is they do it all so casually, and still manage to have a very informative show that sticks to the agenda -> podcast link <-
  
• Gamers with Jobs - content from some independents. More polished and so "slick" that it seems a little forced when compared to The Nintendo RetroCast. Later episodes stuck to the agenda more, but for the most part it seemed like the hosts were trying to out do each other making cheesy jokes and the content I came for often got lost. Still, the fact that I could get audio programming on demand of two wisecrackers talking about how one guy will "shave (his) baggy testicles if the xbox 360 launch experiences a shortage" [sic] and how the other guy is going to pick up a bottle of Nair for him on his next trip to Costco, if that was indeed the kind of programming I wanted, is quite impressive -> podcast link <-
• Asia Cast World News - content from a smaller media company "Sound of Hope Radio Network". Content that just sounds like what it is. A daily recap of important news taking place in Asia. Very professional and to the point, much like a brief BBC newscast. An excellent way to listen any news that broke overnight as I make my way to work in the morning, especially now that I'm taking the bus -> podcast link <-

Remember you don't need an iPod to take part in consuming the podcast content that is out there, but it definitely makes it more convenient. Try Juice and one of these great podcast directories as an alternative to iTunes:

• http://www.podnova.com
• http://www.gigadial.net/public
• http://www.podcastpickle.com
  

posted by Blight @ 10:07 PM