Podcasting!

iTunes

iPod

So, what exactly is this emerging technology all about? According to Wikipedia, a podcast is defined as "a series of digital computer files, usually either digital audio or video, that is released periodically and made available for download by means of web syndication" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast). Some have developed podcast to mean "personal on demand broadcast". Podcasts are different than any regular downloads however. They use podcatchers to get new files by accessing a web feed and therefore can be downloaded automatically and stored. A podcaster is a person that creates the content to be downloaded. Some people are under the impression that in order to access podcasts, you need a portable media player. This isn't true. You can access it with any computer that is able to utilize media files.


Podcasting is becomming more and more popular. iPods are a worldwide phenominon and probably the most well known device used for podcasting. I own both an iPod and an iPhone, so podcasting occurs on a daily basis for me... and I love it! I think some people think the term podcasting is more complicated than it really is. Really, it's self explanitory once you get started and quite fun and addicting! The main application I use is iTunes. Millions of others also use it because it's so simple. You can search and download songs and just drag and drop them into your iPod folder... all on one screen! Every song, video, movie, etc. you can imagine... iTunes has it! I just downloaded an entire Jimmy Buffett CD from iTunes onto my iPhone and it sounds great!


Here's a website that might be useful for more information on how Apple uses podcasts: http://www.apple.com/itunes/whatson/podcasts/. Also, I found this YouTube video quite informative and helpful when I first started getting curious about podcasting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4IBSseAJlk.