Podcast - Definition and Overview

The term "podcasting" is a portmanteau of the words iPod and broadcasting. Although an iPod is currently the playback device of choice for many early adopters of podcasting, a portable music player is not required to take advantage of this method of content distribution. Podcasting is functionally similar to the use of timeshift-capable digital video recorders (DVRs), such as TiVo, which let users record and store TV programs for later viewing.

A podcast is much like an audio magazine subscription: a subscriber receives regular audio programs delivered via the internet, and she or he can listen to them at her or his leisure.

Podcasts differ from traditional internet audio in two important ways. In the past, listeners have had to either tune in to web radio on a schedule, or they have had to actively download individual files from webpages. Podcasts are more flexible and much easier to get. They can be listened to at any time because a copy is on the listener's computer or portable music player, and they are automatically delivered to subscribers, so no active downloading is required.

Overview

The ipodder.org definition [1] (http://www.ipodder.org/whatIsPodcasting) written by Dave Winer: "Think how a desktop aggregator works. You subscribe to a set of feeds, and then can easily view the new stuff from all of the feeds together, or each feed separately. Podcasting works the same way, with one exception. Instead of reading the new content on a computer screen, you listen to the new content on any capable mp3 player on the computer or hardware player such as the iPod. Think of your player with podcasting as having a set of subscriptions that are checked regularly for updates. "

History

Podcasting was developed thanks to Adam Curry's original iPodder script and the success it fostered since [2] (http://ipodder.org/history) August, 2004.

The first documented use of the term podcasting can be cited in an article by Ben Hammersley in an article for The Guardian in February 2004. [3] (http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,1145689,00.html) It was perhaps first used in this context by Dannie J. Gregoire, who also registered the domain name podcasting.net (http://www.podcasting.net/). That usage was discovered and reported on by Dave Slusher of the Evil Genius Chronicles [4] (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ipodder-dev/message/41)

Adding to a number of ad-hoc, proto-podcasting techniques for automatically downloading audio files, podcasting proper became popular through association with blogs (in particular MP3 blogs), the XML-based file format called RSS (Really Simple Syndication), and the polling applications called feed readers or news readers that poll and download RSS files.

Blogs, often being self-published websites, provided a convenient means for individuals to self-publish audio files online. RSS already gave websites and blogs a means to summarize or list new content added to the site. Individuals already used RSS to poll websites for new content. Thus, the addition of audio file listings to RSS, and the addition of audio file downloading to RSS feed readers built upon the feed reader's existing methods for polling and downloading files, and upon the existing "reader driven" interaction with content publishers.

Comparison to broadcasting and webcasting

Podcasting is different from broadcasting and webcasting in that it "casts" audio not by a mechanism of centrally pushing audio out to listeners, but by the mechanism of the (distributed) listeners pulling (downloading) the audio files automatically. Podcasters publish (or "podcast") audio files, even in the likeness of radio shows, but it is the individual listener who initiates the "cast" through their subscription and automatic download of the audio program.

Podcasting also utilizes the combination of audio files and RSS to publish descriptive data and metadata associated with the audio. RSS files used in podcasting include dates, titles, descriptions, and links to audio files. These links to audio files within RSS, which are used by podcasting applications, are defined by the enclosure elements in RSS 2.0 and RSS 1.0 (RDF), and all of the original podcasting proper applications were built to work with RSS 2.0.

Related terms

• broadcatching

External links

In the news

• Oct 8, 2004. "Podcasts: New Twist on Audio" (http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,65237,00.html). Wired News article by By Daniel Terdiman.
• Oct 23, 2004. "Podcast: Time-shifted radio listening gets a new name" (http://www.webtalkradio.com/news/000017.shtml). Webtalk Radio.
• Oct 28, 2004. "New Food for iPods: Audio by Subscription" (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/28/technology/28podd.html). New York Times article by Cyrus Farivar. (subscription required.)
• Dec 2, 2004. "Personal soundtracks" (http://guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,1363637,00.html). The Guardian article by Ben Hammersley.
• Dec 7, 2004. "Tivo for your iPod" (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6640519/site/newsweek/). A Newsweek article by Brian Braiker that describes podcasting to the layreader.
• Dec 8, 2004. "The people's radio" (http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/story.jsp?story=590702). An article on audiobloggers featured in The Independent.
• Dec 10, 2004. "'Podcast' your world" (http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1210/p12s03-stct.html). Christian Science Monitor article by Stephen Humphries on podcasting.
• Dec 30, 2004. "Podcasts bring DIY radio to the web" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4120773.stm). BBC News Online article on podcasting.
• Jan 7, 2005. "Podcasting: The Next Big Thing?" (http://www.kuow.org/weekday.asp?Archive=01-07#10). KUOW 94.9 FM Puget Sound Public Radio (NPR) segment on podcasting.
• Feb 7, 2005. 'Podcasting' Lets Masses do Radio Shows (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/podcasting). Associated Press article on podcasting.
• Feb 7, 2005. 'Podcasting' takes broadcasting to the Internet (http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/ptech/02/07/podcasting.ap/index.html) CNN

Information

• #TheCabin's r33tcast (http://www.the-cabin.com/podcast/) - Instructions on how to download, install, and configure clients to recieve podcasts.
• Audioblogs.info (http://www.audioblogs.info/) - Information about audioblogs and podcasts
• PodcastExpert.com (http://www.podcastexpert.com/) - links and information about audio editing, recording and podcasting
• Podcast Expo (http://www.podcastexpo.com) trade show and conference
• Digital Podcast News (http://www.digitalpodcast.com/archivenews.php/) - Archive of Digital Podcast News - updating you on new podcast related articles and podcast listings in the Digital Podcast Directory.
• Podcasting News (http://www.podcastingnews.com/) - features news about podcasts and computer audio recording, a podcasting blog and other resources.
• Anatomy of an iPodder (http://secrets.scripting.com/anatomyIpodder). A rough description of podcasting.
• Yahoo! Podcasters mailing list (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/podcasters/). A mailing list for podcasters and podcast listeners to communicate about podcasting for the iPodder platform.
• podca.st: A brief history of how Podcasting began and some frequently asked questions for podcast newbies.

Podcast Windows / Mac / Linux client software

• iPodder (http://ipodder.sourceforge.net/). iPodder Lemon. The cross-platform podcast receiver (Windows/Mac/Linux).
• Jäger (http://jaeger.blogmatrix.com/). A cross-platform RSS aggregator (Windows/Mac/Linux).
• Nimiq (http://www.nimiq.nl/): for Windows. Capable of downloading BitTorrents. (Windows)
• PodFeeder (http://podfeeder.com/). Podcast receiver for Windows. Sync your podcast subscriptions across multiple machines
• iPodderX (http://iPodderX.com). iPodderX, podcast receiver for the Mac. Handles audio, video, and still images. (Mac)
• Sparks! (http://sparks.blogmatrix.com/). Podcast client with a streaming Internet radio recorder for Windows and Mac. (Mac)
• bashpodder (http://linc.homeunix.org:8080/scripts/bashpodder/): Podcast client for Linux