podcasting

so, what is this podcasting thing? as we established in my first post, i am coming rather late to blogging, so i figure i am behind the curve on podcasting, as well. not as behind, though. so anyway, i'm reading one of my favorite blogs (http://randomreality.blogware.com/) a few months ago and i see this word podcast. don't know what that is, don't bother to look it up (yes, i am lazy). then, randomly, the next day, i read some other reference to podcasting. ok, this is something i need to know about, i think, as i google the term. i find ipodder (http://ipoddernet.sourceforge.net/) and am instantly hooked. so, what is it? basically, podcasts are radio shows that are produced by all manner of random individuals and posted on the internet so that you can download them and listen to them on your ipod. ipodder is an aggregator for podcasts, like all the content aggregators for blogs, news sites, etc., that will automatically check the sites you indicate for new podcasts and download them into your itunes for synching to your ipod.

so what do you listen to on podcasts? anything. literally anything. the content is so specific. they are radio shows that you would never hear on the radio because they are so not commercial. there are talk shows, music shows, comedy bits, food shows, sports talk shows, everything. there is so much content out there and some of it is crap, but some of it is great. i was having a hard time knowing where to start, but, lucky for me, literally minutes after i learn about podcasting, i read my wired magazine (yes, i get the old school paper version) and see this article (http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,66133,00.html) about adam curry (yes, the former mtv veejay), who is apparently the granddaddy of podcasting. he's involved with ipodder and has got a great podcast called daily source code, which you can get at http://www.dailysourcecode.com. there's almost always a fun mash-up to hear, a funny name-that-tune game called jan polet's hit test (http://www.janpolet.nl) and he runs promos for podcasts so you can find good content to add to your ipodder. like the roadhouse blues podcast, which i am jamming to right now. it's the best blues you've never heard. hit it up at http://www.codemode.typepad.com/roadhouse/ . other than adam, there are some other great sources for finding good podcasting content, including websites like podcast alley (http://podcastalley.com/), podcasting news (http://www.podcastingnews.com/), and podcast bunker (http://www.podcastbunker.com/).

so, there you have it. there are so many issues to talk about, like legal and copyright issues about content, the future of podcasting, how it could be made to be profitable and about a million others. this is my new favorite thing right now (which will probably fall by the wayside in a few days, we all know that i have the attention span of a gnat on meth). but, for now, i think its cool, so check out this podcasting thing...