Week 11

Hi!

This week I’m moving on to talk about podcasting as a form of e-publishing.

To those of you who aren’t quite familiar with this term, podcasting is a series of digital media files (could be photos, video or audio files) which are released as though an episode of a television series, one at a time. These files then get downloaded through web syndication. It is possible for you to access a podcast on computers, mp3 (MPEG Audio Layer 3) players, and most recently through mobile devices. Some allege that the term podcasting is derived from the words ‘ipod’ and ‘broadcast’ http://ezinearticles.com/?Podcasting-Trend&id=49037.

‘What distinguishes a podcast from other types of audio products on the internet is that a podcaster can solicit subscriptions from listeners, so that when new podcasts are released, they can automatically be delivered, or fed to a subscriber’s computer or mobile device… Just like the old radio serials of the 1930s and 40s, this format encourages listeners to subscribe so they can find out “what happens next” http://www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia/term/159122.html. If all of this is quite confusing for you, why not take a look at this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMSL42NV3c

which explains podcasting in plain English. It might give you a greater understanding of the podcasting technology, the process of creating a podcast, and why it’s so popular. Does this interest you in creating your own podcast? If so, click on this link for a tutorial.

http://radio.about.com/od/podcastin1/a/aa030805a.htm

Hugh Chignell declares in his book ‘Key Concepts in radio studies’ (SAGE, 2009), page 43 that the podcasting technology as a form of e-publishing has built ‘on the success of the web log (‘blog’) which allowed people to communicate creatively to an Internet audience’. This is a good point as people have realised the impact that blogs are now having on the public and society, and are now trying to offer new ways of catering to people’s needs. The reason I say this is because it’s not always possible for people to listen to radio shows everyday, and used to have to miss out on certain radio programmes if they weren’t able to tune in that specific day before the wonders of podcasting, whereas now you can download that specific show on an mp3 player, computer or mobile device to listen to later if you wish to do so.

These days with podcasting being a phenomenon worldwide, many websites are catering for the public’s needs. Here’s an example of one of these podcast creating websites-

http://www.clickcaster.com/
(Clickcaster). It claims on the website to make ‘podcast creation and publishing fast, fun and easy’. After signing up, and browsing the website, I have learned a few things. Here, every channel created is a podcast. Creating a “post” on this website is essentially creating a form of a blog where it is possible to add media, such as mp3 files, videos and photos to it, and then post it.

In a previous blog I have spoken about RSS feeds (Really Simple Syndication). It is also possible to subscribe to an RSS feed to specified podcasts. This ensures that you receive regular updates (the following podcast) through such podcatchers as ‘itunes’ and ‘juice’.

Hugh Chignell mentions in his book ‘Key Concepts in radio studies’ (SAGE, 2009) ‘The mainstream radio industry in the UK has seen the potential of podcasting and used it to ‘time shift’ programmes and forms of output’. This is true but there are many different uses for podcasting that include-
• Self guided walking tours
• Story telling for the visually impaired
• Diary
• Religion
http://www.onlypodcasting.com/podcasting-articles/history-of-podcasting.php

Self guided walking tours-
Museums can now offer visitors the chance of walking tours on their mobile devices. This enables the visitor to be able to choose their own tour to acquire their own taste, and to get the knowledge of the work/place that they’re located/looking at. It’s simple to receive this on your phone, just download it! The wonders of such a technology is that it is easily accessible to people, it is much cheaper to create a podcast rather than to pay a tour guide for his/her services, and also it prevents the company having to pay for the creation of maps and leaflets. Not only this, but it saves the cost of having to keep updating these later. Examples I have found of this are-
• Boston public garden- www.learnoutloud.com/Podcast.../Boston...Tour...Podcast/30123
• A Tour of St.Teilo’s Church (national museum of Wales)- http://www.museumwales.ac.yk/en/rhagor/podcast/?id=282
• Guiness Storehouse Tour Dublin- http://www.guiness-storehouse.com/en/Podcast.aspx

Story Telling for the Visually Impaired-
Libraries and newspapers sometimes offer podcast feeds of local publications and news for people with visual handicaps to enjoy and stay up to date with the local news.

Diary-
Podcasts can be used to remind the user of the mobile device of meetings and thus functions as a diary.

Religion-
Religious groups and churches use podcasts to make sermons and talks available to their congregation or people who are interested, for example http://www.prayerpodcasts.com/

Hugh Chignell iterates in his book ‘Key Concepts in radio studies’ (SAGE, 2009) on page 43 that Berry, R alleges in his book ‘Will the iPod kill the radio star? Profiling podcasting as radio’ (2006) that he ‘sees the potential in this new technology to encourage the largely young iPod users to ‘regain the radio habit’. What are your views on this? Leave your comments.

Bye for now.