Remember back when only the geekiest of the geeks had blogs?!
Now it seems like everyone and their sister – literally – is throwing down their thoughts, ideas, and seemingly random blatherings each and every day on websites across the Internet. A chicken in every pot and a blog for every man, woman, and child…and in some eccentric households, every dog and cat as well! And while you or I might not necessarily be interested in reading about each and every one of them, well you’ve at least got to admit that it’s simply amazing to see technology sweep over a culture like that. Almost makes you wonder just what the next big thing might be…
Of course, some might argue that, in fact, said next big thing is already here in the form of the podcast and really, I wouldn’t be all that surprised to hear rebuttals popping up in audio form just as soon as this hits the web – as fast as the speed of life, they say? Now where we once had a great, textual whiteboard to spell out our ideas to the masses stands a megaphone to broadcast whatever your little heart desires and all you really need to get started is a microphone, a computer, and well, something to talk about! From pop culture to movies to entire radio shows discussing the mating habits of the African honeybee, if you can dream it and there’s at least one other person out there somewhere who shares your visions, chances are there’s a podcast for it, too.
Which you’ve got to admit that, technologically speaking, is pretty darn cool because with every new step that we take these days, we seem to be opening up the doors of communication to both new producers and new audiences alike – yesterday it was the written word with blogs, wikis, and other online diaries, today radio shows and all sorts of new audio content is popping up to share views of this, that, and the other thing, and come to think of it, its not even tomorrow yet and we’ve already got techies experimenting with video to make their own TV programs over the Internet! The concepts of public radio and public access TV are being thrust to new heights and only the most imaginative can tell where we’ll be going next…
But by this point, chances are a good portion of you might still be wondering just what exactly in the heck I’m talking about…well, allow me to elaborate. Specifically getting back to podcasting, the idea stems from being able to create your own audio content and put it out on the Internet for anyone and everyone to enjoy. The name itself is said to have come about from Apple’s iPod, however you certainly don’t need a $300 MP3 player to listen – anything will do, including simply your own personal computer that you play music on today. As far as creation and broadcasting is concerned, those currently partaking in the fun range anywhere from merely using the microphone that was provided with their computer all the way up to full-blown mixing boards and professional-grade microphones – it truly is a hobby where you can spend as little or as much as you’d like. Your only real limits are your own creativity and the amount of bandwidth that your Internet host is willing to supply…and thanks to bittorrent and other file-sharing alternatives out there, most find that that’s not necessarily even an issue anymore, either…
I first got interested in podcasting myself after learning that the former hosts of TechTV’s The Screen Savers would be reuniting to host a weekly radio show about technology and computers and pretty much all of the geek stuff that I used to enjoy five days a week before G4 took over the station. It didn’t take long before I noticed a lot of different shows popping up for my various interests, not only of technology, but also writing, pop culture, humor – you name it! As a welcome change to the same, old CDs that I’d been listening to throughout my workday, I started downloading these podcasts (most of which offered new episodes weekly) and after about three weeks, I was hooked.
Of course, you can imagine that there have been some stumbling points along the way…as anyone would naturally expect from a new technology, really…and even today things are getting better and better as we go. One of the most prominent that comes to mind, however, really has nothing to do with the technical aspect of podcasting itself and that would be along the lines of keeping a schedule (mind you, something that many webmasters and blog writers are still struggling to manage these days!). The difference between hosting a professional radio show and hosting a podcast, some might admit, is whereas in the professional arena, chances are you’d have a handful of managers, investors, etc… none too happy with you for simply “missing” a broadcast or two here and there, but for the casual podcaster, there’s really nobody to force you away from the TV on a Tuesday night to finish post-production on your latest show before it hits the Internet…
Well, no one except for your listeners, that is, and I’ve already seen it happening a bit where a podcast’s listeners are upset for not being able to expect their favorite radio show updated at the same time each week – from the listener’s point of view, there is no distinction between commercial radio and those doing it simply for a love of their topic. And honestly, I really do think that this will expand to be a good thing later on down the road because as we’ve already seen, there are simply a lot of topics covered by podcasters that the bigger conglomerates are never going to be able to because its not profitable, and this is where podcasting really shines! Clear Channel would never see fit to dedicate an hour a week on their networks for Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Bee Keeping, but for the local technologist-turned-beekeeper who’s looking for something to do on a Tuesday night, its time to open up the phone lines! It might take a little self discipline to get over the hurdles of taking on a new project that caters to such an audience, but just like getting a new puppy, there’s a whole lot of fun to be had in between those sporadic incidents of cleaning up urine off of the new carpet!
So are you ready to give the next step in Internet radio a shot? You’ll find a variety of links at the end of this article highlighting not only my own personal favorite podcasts, but also a handful of directory sites to peruse if you’re not exactly sure what you’re looking for just yet. And for those of you iPod enthusiasts who are already knee-deep in the world that is Apple’s iTunes, you should find plenty of great links imbedded right into the application – just a simple click on the subscribe button and you’ll have all of the latest shows streamed straight to your proprietary MP3 player of choice! But enough of this plain text experience – its time to get out there and entertain the next generation of radio…
P.S. I’m always looking for great, new podcasts to add to my own playlist (especially those that dabble in the realms of humor and technology), so feel free to e-mail me any suggestions that you don’t already see in the list below. You never know what kinds of gems you might be sitting on…
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