About Podcasting

Pod People.

 

How would you like to be the director of your own radio show; one you can listen to on the move?
by Chris Keall

 

Podcasting works like this: you surf the web, looking for music or radio shows packaged in 'podcast' format. Then you download your selection of audio snippets to your PC or Mac, and copy them to a portable digital music player such as a Sony digital Walkman or Apple iPod ( podcasting is a made-up word that combines iPod with broadcast).

 

 

Once you've found your favourite podcasts, you can get podcasting software to automatically seek out the latest editions, then copy them to your audio player. It doesn't take long: you'll spend about an hour setting up, but after that it's a lot less hasselicious than it sounds.

 

Podcasting started about a year ago when MTV host Adam Curry went looking for a way to bundle up some of his favourite songs so iPod users could download his selected tracks each day. Now others have taken the concept and mixed it with internet radio. Big newscasters like CNN and BBC World podcast highlights of their daily news and documentaries (like most podcasts they're free, though some come with brief advertising messages).

 

Along with tons of music collections and new song previews, you'll also find a lot of spoken-word podcasts covering things like hacks for Xbox games, gossip about Sony's coming PS3; stand-up comedy; and health, lifestyle and relationship advice. There are also quite a few education podcasts. Most are aimed at people studying at high schools in the US and mention specific classes there, but there are some things about economic, French and, um ventriloquism, that are universal. With languages, especially, hearing is often better than reading.

 

You can also find audio versions of books; self-help stuff like how to look after a dog, skateboard or girlfriend, plus Paris Hilton droning on about her latest movie.

 

Homegrown content is still rare. At present, it's restricted to one science fiction radio drama that originally played on Radio New Zealand during the 90s (though a number of radio stations, including Flava and The Rock, promise podcast programmes soon).

 

Worldwide, it's booming. There's an amazing amount of stuff out there, but how do you find a podcast where your favourite band talk about their latest CD, and avoid the one where a guy talks for five hours about his cat?

 

Apple has started a directory that tracks podcasts. It's part of the latest version of its free iTunes software, which you can download from Apple's website and which also helps to automatically download podcasts PEOPLE each day once you've tagged your favourites. All the podcasts you'll find through the iTunes directory are going to be pretty good quality - though some still carry an 'explicit' warning, usually for language. Closer to the free-for-all edges of the internet are directories like www.podcastalley.com, ipodderx. com and www.podcast.com.

 

Once you've found podcasts you like, you can use a piece of software called an 'aggregator' to regularly collect content and download it to your PC. Your choices here include Doppler Radio and iPodder. But there's a bit of geekiness for the sake of it with this mix-and-match software. Your easiest option is to stick with Apple's iTunes, which acts as directory and aggregator.

 

You can listen to a podcast on any PC or Mac that has speakers. But podcasts work best as boredom busters that fill in dead time like your journey to school. For this, you'll need a portable digital audio player (sometimes called MP3 players after the most well-known internet music format).

 

As anyone who's spent more than two minutes on a bus knows, Apple's iPod is the most popular MP3 player around. The cheapest model is the 512-megabyte version of the iPod Shuffle, which costs about $196. There are also less expensive MP3 players in the shops: you can pick one up for under $100. Some cellphones these days also come with headphone jacks plus memory cards or wireless options that let you copy podcasts (or songs) from a PC and listen to them on the move. But a phone like that usually costs more than $500.

 

Creating your own podcast is actually pretty easy. All you need is a PC or Mac, a microphone (the cheapy plastic kind that comes with many PCs or Dick Smith bargain bins are fine) plus some podcast-making software. Apple recommends its GarageBand programme, which is more commonly used for recording and mixing music at home and costs $179. If that's too much, then download one of the many free podcast-making tools, such as Audacity.

 

The tricky bit is getting one of the directories to mention your podcast, plus finding a home for it on the internet. Liberated Syndication will host your podcast so others can download it, but you'll be paying around $7 a month for the privilege. If the technology takes off here, New Zealand internet service providers should offer much cheaper podcasting services. If you do get a regular podcast together, then make sure you enter it in the Topcast awards, which aim to become the Oscars of podcasting. First winners will be unveiled in November.

 

LINKS

 

Apple
Doppler Radio
Ipodder
Audacity
Liberated Syndication

 

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