Matt May is a Web accessibility specialist, and has written on the interaction of people and technology since 1995. He keeps his own weblog at bestkungfu.com, and produces a podcast called Staccato, which features Creative Commons-licensed music.
Alex Williamsblogs, consults and produces unconference style events, where people immerse in DIY media. These are fun occasions, designed for people who want to get together with authors, artists, technologists and leading thinkers to converse, eat, listen to music, write, shoot photos and post podcasts and videoblogs. Alex also works with companies to establish DIY approaches, where writing, photography, voice and video come together to create new conversations and communities. Alex is currently fascinated with digital photography. His girlfriend calls him a Flickrholic. Send Alex a nice message: alexhwilliams at gmail.com.
Nicole Simon loves blogging and podcasting, dashed with an European view. As consultant she helps to facilitate such tools for business purposes or personal publishing empires. She can be found at cruel to be kind and on her private blog Useful Sounds.
Roland Tanglao is a well known podcasting enthusiast and a passionate advocate of blogs, RSS, and social software as a means of online expression for people, organizations and businesses. He is a prominent participant in the blogosphere and online communities and one of the founders of Bryght and as Bryght's Chief Blogging Officer reads hundreds of blogs daily. He graduated from the University of Waterloo, worked at Nortel Networks where he ran its first internal corporate blog, has has been blogging since 1999, and was the first business blogging consultant in Canada.
If somebody can get me a review copy of iLife 06 (I refuse to buy it from the Apple Store and it won't be available in Vancouver for a few weeks it looks like (I called all 3 Apple dealers today and it's not yet available!), I would review GarageBand's podcast studio sooner rather than later. Review copy or not, I will review GarageBand when I get it!
Watching all those reports from CES coming in through the several blogs I read I noticed a lot of new products which could be interesting for podcasters.
Could because most of the times those players are only described in what new features for playing and colors they have - not so much about the features for recording.
Maybe I am reading the wrong blogs - but if podcasters do not blog about new gear for podcasters, who else will? So please, point me to new gear with good recording features for the ever growing number of podcasters!
Yahoo! Podcasts now supports vidcasts as well as podcasts! Click to watch the video of your favorite shows – it’s as easy as listening directly from your web browser.
To many people, audio and video podcast are seperate things and the Yahoo site describes podcasts as just audio ("listen ... a podcast is an audio recording).
But it seems as if it is only a matter of time when services like this directory allow both kinds to co exist in their directory and let the user choose if he wants to search just for video or audio. Now that iTunes and Yahoo offer (web) based access to both types - will Odeo follow as well?
ZENcast Organizer, specially designed by Creative Technology, seamlessly integrates podcasts and video blogs with the Creative ZEN player or a PC. Available today as a public beta version for free download for the award winning ZEN VISION and the latest ZEN VISION:M users. The ZENcast Organizer will enable users to enjoy easy downloads of all channels from www.zencast.com.
The user interfaces looks a lot like iTunes and the website has only a very basic feature set - but still a bit more to offer than iTunes.
The design seems very simple and non stylish compared to the look of the hardware products. But obviously the company sees the need to compete with iTunes through having easy accessible (free) audio and video content to fill the players with.
Looking at the basic features of the website and seeing how long they will have to go from here I was wondering, why the company did not try to work with one of the existing directories out there. But instead took the road to offer yet another directory and make podcasters again go through the process of educating the new directory of their needs and wants.
From course content and supplemental materials for students to professional development offerings for educators, educational institutions are automatically adding content to iPods. Using podcasts to produce and distribute this content means students, parents and educators can experience learning everywhere. And the cornerstone of this podcasting system is the Apple Podcasting Server
The creation guide covers just some basics, but the backbone guide allows admins of those kind of servers to really set up podcasting for the education server. It is no wonder that Apple tries to push podcasting, because it could increase sales of mobile mp3 players if universities and other educational outlets convince their students to use an iPod for studying.
It used to be that headphone manufacturers made their products in black, because they had always made them in black, and it was a big announcement when one would come out with a white set to match the iPod. Well, Etymotic just announced that they will offer a black version of their ER-6i headphones, which originally came only in white. Because the iPod now comes in black, too.
As more and more podcast are published, it gets more complicated to choose from the available. Dave Slusher has now launched AmigoFish, a new service for the listener to "fish" for new podcasts based on ratings from other listeners.
The concept is very simple and well known: If others like the same shows you do, you might want to look into their other choices because you might like those also. Naturally, the system gets better the more people participate and rate podcast - not only the ones they like, but also not liked.
So this is not yet another directory, or another website where you as a listener are driven to vote, but a service which can have value for you, based on your ratings.
I was allowed to test the service some time ago and even back then with only a limited amount of input it brought me some new podcast I like to listen to now. Visit the website or read the blog.
One of the main problems in the podosphere is to find good new podcasts based on your interest. Amazon has shown for a long time the success of the "customers who bought this book also liked" feature and Odeo started something similar.
The new feature is called "Other interesting channels" and appears next to channels (this is how a podcast is called in their directory). They describe it in the according blog post "The Road Less Traveled" in the following way:
The way it works is a little different than you might expect. While the recommendations are derived from what other people on Odeo are listening to, it's not limited to the most popular things. We've tweaked it a bit to try and find things that are related, but not necessarily obvious.
It seems as if the subscriptions of the listeners play into what is suggested.
Podcast producers should keep an eye on the according Odeo pages for their podcasts. As tags and description probably influence the new feature, it is suggested to edit those from time to time. Once a feed is claimed, each show can be edited with image, link and description while tags can be edited any time.
"I decided to port Wimpy over so that i could check out Podcasts BEFORE i download them to my iPod.
Podcast Amp allows you to listen to Podcasts from your desktop, nothing fancy, but at least you don't have to install an "aggrigator" then download the Podcast and then open the file in another program."
It seems like every day that I run across new products and services being offered in the podcast space.
Here are some of recent note:
Wavigo adds podcast support. From their press release: "Wavigo has just added podcast support to its powerful voice, text, information and entertainment service suite. Now Wavigo users can select, manage, and listen to their favorite podcasts with ease. Wavigo's podcast management feature allows users to download or stream podcasts directly to Wavigo, and play them through Wavigo's built-in music and video media player."
Clickwheel offers comics on the iPod through RSS. This is similar to a podcast. They call them podstrips. From their web site:
"Central to Clickwheel's design is an RSS feed that allows you to search,
grab and display comics or toons that have been created for the iPod photo.
And because comics on the iPod is a completely new field, we've commissioned
a number of leading artists to create work for us — these include demian.5, Ted Dewan, Daniel Merlin Goodbrey and Colin White.
They've each been asked to produce a running series for the feed, so their
work will be appearing over the coming year, with new episodes following on a
regular basis."
Parliant offers Phone Valet podcast bundle. From Yahoo!: "The VST edition of SoundSoap 2 and BIAS Peak Express, the PhoneValet 3.0 hardware and software, are included with the PhoneValet Podcast bundle. The three tools let podcasters to capture, edit and enhance phone recordings. According to the company, PhoneValet records telephone interviews, while SoundSoap 2 is basically the clean-up cres: It removes hiss, clicks, crackles, and other unwanted noises. Peak Express is a version of the stereo audio editor that improves the sound file through sample rate conversion and invert, fade in/out, gain, and other functions."
iPodverts lets podcasters sell advertising space on their podcasts. From their web site: "Podcasts attract very targeted audiences, which makes for a fantastic opportunity for advertisers to target specific demographics. iPodverts will now be able to bring together Podcasters and Advertisers, opening up a whole new category of advertising."
It's been 9 days since the release of iTunes 4.9, the first version of the media player to integrate podcasting. Reviews have been largely positive, with users praising the aggregation features and integration with the iPod, and noting some hidden items such as videoblog support.
At the same time, though, a growing number of flaws have emerged in both the design of the software and how Apple has communicated -- or failed to communicate -- with the content providers they're now leveraging. Here's an overview of where iTunes has gone astray.
Bandwidth-blowout defaults
The typical RSS feed contains 10 to 15 entries. It's reasonable in an RSS aggregator to display all of them to the user. What is not reasonable, however, is for an aggregator to default to downloading all enclosures for a new feed.
The contents of my music podcast's feed is over a half-gigabyte of data. Now, ordinarily, I'd be happy for anyone to download the last 12 hours of my show -- if only they were going to listen to it. The reason for much of the traffic in the days since the iTunes launch is not new listeners, but existing listeners switching over. It's a duplication and a massive waste of bandwidth, for which a lot of podcasters are paying with real dollars. My site traffic has more than doubled in the last week and a half. I'm fortunate to have enough bandwidth to be able to survive that first wave of iTunes users. And yet, my show wasn't one that was listed.
The earlobe lottery
Podcasters had been told that Apple was sourcing the iPodder directory to generate its own. This was good news: we all wanted to be there on launch. I knew that I was in that directory, so I figured I was in good shape. Then, on the morning of the launch, I searched the database for my show. No results found.
So I went to submit my RSS feed, and found that someone had already submitted it. Now, my show is as podsafe as it gets, so I'm unconcerned about whether it's got copyright issues that would concern Apple. Maybe they're manually listening to shows to quality-check them. Maybe they've determined that they can't accept items licensed "non-commercial" under the Creative Commons license (though that's not what the license says). I can only guess, as I wait through week 2, what the problem could be. One thing is for sure: Apple's not talking.
Lack of communication
Almost everything we knew about iTunes, we heard second-hand from people like Adam Curry and Dave Winer. We heard that it was going great, that there'd be some new elements to add to our feeds, and that it was coming really soon. We got 24 hours' notice of its impending release -- and still we got none of the information we needed to prepare our podcasts.
Nobody knows when they're going to update. Nobody knows how they decide which podcasts they host and which they don't. Nobody even knows what the procedure is. All any podcaster can do at this point is to hope that those who do have access to Apple will let some detail slip. This is no way to communicate with independents. The lack of communication on the part of Apple has spawned a rumor mill which serves no one.
Secret schema
Apple published a new namespace, "itunes:", for podcast feeds. The value of much of it is still in question, with parts of it duplicating existing RSS elements or providing value only to iTunes users.
But worse, if you go to the provided document type definition, where you should see a listing of available elements, you instead get redirected to the iTunes homepage. This behavior is, in a word, dumb. In three words, really, really dumb. A number of podcasters have taken it upon themselves to figure out the itunes: namespace (and where it diverges from Apple's published documentation). Their work is impressive in its speed and efficiency, but all that wouldn't be necessary if only Apple would talk to us.
Apple has time to fix all of these problems and regain the goodwill of podcasters. But they will need to deal with us directly, not through some self-appointed ambassadors. They need to get onto the mailing lists, address the concerns, and be responsive. It's not something they are known for doing, to be sure, but they didn't invent this community. We did. And we're going to demand some amount of cooperation from those who are going to benefit from our work.
On today's Daily Source Code, Adam Curry hints that iTunes 4.9, with podcast functionality, will arrive "within the next two weeks, probably. Maybe even less than that." He notes that 38 million desktops have iTunes today, and they'll all get nudged to upgrade. (I think that means more listeners. Don't you?)
In addition, Curry adds that Apple is introducing a new XML namespace ("pod:") into the RSS 2.0 mix, allowing some more advanced tagging than what is available now. They will allow podcasters to opt out of the iTunes Music Store, an "explicit" tag, and a few others.
What I would really love is for that namespace to allow bookmarking. It'd be nice to have a music podcast with track markings, all within a single MP3. (And maybe links to purchase the track? Just a thought, Apple.)
Music site Garageband.com is now fully on board with podcasting as a mechanism for promoting performing artists. I've been chatting with them for a while, as they experimented with a Creative Commons-licensed promo for American Idol finalist Bo Bice. Now, they appear to be revamping their site to be among the most podcast-friendly around.
Today, the company announced the release of GarageBand Podcast Studio, a Flash-based tool that allows anyone to select tracks from GarageBand artists and mix them with uploaded voiced segments as desired. The service is now free, with a dual revenue model (free podcasts with ads, paid ones without) in the cards. Future plans include a phone number to let... uh, podcast DJs, phone it in. (We gotta come up with some kind of a name for people like this. PJs is just a non-starter.)
In addition, each band now has its own podcast feed. At 40,000 strong, that's a bit of a jump in the amount of available podcast content. Subscribers will get new music from their chosen artists as it's uploaded.
GarageBand, which now touts itself as "the world's largest catalog of podcast-ready music," also considers podcasters to be part of their broadcast network, and waives royalties from its end for podcasters who sign up with them.
Time will tell how many podcasters are drawn in by these tools. But I'd sure like to see recording labels come anywhere near this. There's a big announcement on that front expected sometime this week, from another group of folks I've been talking with.
A few weeks ago, David Janes and David McCarthy put out a press release promoting their new all-in-one podcasting / podcatching tool. I was skeptical but took some time to interview the two Davids and found a couple of guys who seem very committed and capable of delivering a podcasting tool that's easy to use. You can try the tool for free, but with $5, a web browser and a microphone you can be podcasting in minutes. (MP3)
BlogMatrix Sparks claims to be the first to market with an integrated podcasting/podcatching application. "BlogMatrix Sparks! 2.0 makes podcasting easy and affordable”, says founder David Janes.
The press release goes on to say that BlogMatrix Sparks!™ podcasters can:
* Record podcasts directly on their computer with a microphone and a mouse click.
* Mix music with the podcast.
* Record up to 8 tracks for a single podcast.
* Automatically store their podcasts on the BlogMatrix server for others to enjoy
A quick review of the website shows that even if all of the claims are true, they may not tell the whole story. It appears that Sparks preferentially publishes bit torrents rather than mp3s and it publishes entries to a proprietary directory that is read by their Windows software client rather than standard xml feeds.
A review of their website turned up few sample podcasts and they were even scarcer if you weren't willing to download via bit torrent. I eventually found one that allowed me to download an mp3 and took a listen. It was clearly someone's equipment test, their very first podcast. The podcast was simple, consisting of just one person talking. There was no music, no apparent need for mixing, and come to think of it, it wasn't even really a podcast. The show was internet radio as I had downloaded an mp3 file from a link, the simple directory offered bit torrents, html host pages, and mp3 files, but no RSS feeds. I scanned the site again, but didn't find anything that looked like an actual podcast. (I'll try to check back in a month or two.)
My thoughts: Sparks might be easy to use -- you'll have to load the software on a Windows machine to know for sure and quite frankly I wasn't willing. But even if you do load the software and find it easy to use, the question remains "Without mp3 as standard and without RSS feeds that can be loaded into any aggregator, is Sparks really podcasting or is it an odd configuration of cobbled together software that in the end serves to create proprietary internet radio?"
From the website of PodGuides.net through which you can access "detailed spoken descriptions of what you see while visiting the city (museum, ...) of your choice.":
"A PodGuide is a very simple thing. It's the combination of a map (PDF) of a certain place and a series of audio tracks (mp3) which you can download for your iPod. Think of an audio tour in a museum, but not limited to just that. You could have a PodGuide about the 10 coolest pubs in London for example, or a PodGuide which shows you the most known historic buildings in Bruges. But it might just as well be about the most strangest front doors in Kleit (no you don't know Kleit)."
Alex Williams
Matt May
Nicole Simon
Roland Tanglao
