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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.
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