What is Podcasting?
What is Podcasting
Podcasting is quickly becoming a buzz word
among the techie crowd. So what is podcasting,
anyway? Podcasting is online audio content that
is delivered via an RSS feed. Many people liken
podcasting to radio on demand. However, in reality,
podcasting gives far more options in terms of
content and programming than radio does. In addition,
with Podcasting, listeners can determine the time
and the place, meaning they decide what programming
they want to receive and when they want to listen
to it.
Listeners can retain audio archives
to listen to at their leisure. While blogs have
turned many bloggers into journalists, podcasting
has the potential to turn podcasters into radio
personalities.
Podcasting can be used for:
1. Self-Guided Walking Tours
- Informational content.
2. Music - Band promotional clips
and interviews.
3. Talk Shows - Industry or organizational
news, investor news, sportscasts, news coverage
and commentaries.
4. Training - Instructional
informational materials.
5. Story - Story telling
for children or the visually-impaired.
Podcasting is the syndication of
audio files using RSS. Podcasting works the same
as a standard RSS feed reader or news aggregator,
the only difference is that the feed you subscribe
to contains an audio file in it. Instead of reading
content in your RSS feed reader or aggregator,
you can listen to the contents of your feed using
a reader or aggregator that supports podcasting,
or you can listen to them on an iPod or similar
device. While podcasting was named for the iPod,
you do not have to have an iPod to listen to a
podcast. Podcasts can be displayed on websites
with clickable links to audio files and many of
the standard RSS readers, like FeedDemon's latest
beta, have begun supporting audio enclosures.
The audio file that makes the feed
a podcast rather than a standard RSS feed is contained
in the 'enclosure' tag. The easiest way to think
of this is as an e-mail attachment.
Although the "enclosure" tag is
not new to RSS feeds and has been included in
the RSS v2.0 specification for about four years,
podcasting has only really been around since August
of 2004.
Webmasters are finding creative
ways to provide media-rich content. The syndication
aspect and potential increase in audience size
are an attractive lure. Listeners benefit from
podcasting because, like RSS, podcasting is a
means to publish content that ultimately gives
the recipient the control over the information
they want to see or hear.
Podcasting Resources -
Podcasting Tools - http://www.podcasting-tools.com
Podcast Alley - http://www.podcastalley.com
PodcastBunker - http://www.podcastbunker.com
Podcasting News - http://www.podcastingnews.com
It will be interesting to see how
this publishing medium develops. Currently, only
the technical crowd has endorsed podcasting as
a new audio medium, but the potential is real
and the process is not overly complex. With a
little time I think this field will develop and
prosper.
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll
http://www.feedforall.com
software for creating, editing, publishing RSS
feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages
marketing for NotePage http://www.notepage.net
a wireless text messaging software company.
|
