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Tuesday, 01 August 2006 |
What Is Podcasting?
Podcasting is short for iPod Broadcasting. This is where radio stations and others make their programmes available on the internet so that you can download them, and listen to them in your own time.
Who Is Podcasting?
Actually, anyone with some very basic software can podcast. But of the well known podcasters, perhaps the best known are the BBC, Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, Sky and Channel 4.
What Equipment Do I Need?
 For basic podcasting, you need a computer which has speakers attached, an internet connection – preferably ADSL, and some software. Then you can download podcasts and listen to them from your computer. If you want to take your podcasts with you (for example to the beach), you will need a portable media player, often referred to as an iPod.
The word iPod has now become synonymous with portable media players, in the same way that for example Hoover has become synonymous with vacuum cleaners. iPods are made by the computer company Apple. However, there are many other manufacturers out there including Sony, Toshiba, Creative and Philips to name a few. These come in various guises, but the main selling feature of all of them is memory. They can range from 128MB (enough for approximately 2 hours of audio) right upto a 60GB hard disk model, which in some cases may be more than your home computer. It is worth noting that Apple’s iPod will work with both Windows based PCs and Apple Macs, but you will need Apple’s iTunes software.
The most popular software to download podcasts comes again from Apple Computers, and is called iTunes. If you purchase an Apple iPod, you will get a CD with the software on it. Alternatively, you can download iTunes free from the Apple internet site www.apple.com. There are alternatives such as Juice available from http://juicereceiver.sourceforge.net/ which again is free.
Simple checklist
• Computer with speakers attached and internet connection (ADSL)
• Portable media / MP3 player
• Podcasting software (e.g. iTunes Juice)
How Do I Download Podcasts?
Once your computer software is installed, you need to subscribe to the podcasts. This varies based on your software.
If you have the latest version of iTunes, you can browse the podcast directory. If you see one you like, click on it and it will add it to your list of subscribed podcasts.
If you can’t see your podcast, or if you are using juice software, you will need to go the web site which publishes the podcast. You will need to copy the web feed web page address into the podcast software. This web address will usually end in .xml which signifies that it is a web feed.
When you have done this, your software will start downloading to your computer.
If this isn't possible, you can simply download the mp3 file and then add it to your media player software later. iTunes makes this really easy, you simply chose th menu option "add file to library". With Windows Media Player, you can simply ask the software to search for all media on your computer, and the download will be found and added to the library.
Getting Podcasts to my MP3 player
Again, this differs depending on your MP3 player. If you use an iPod with iTunes, you can simply drag and drop the podcast to you iPod icon when the iPod is docked. You can actually set this up to transfer automatically.
If you are using ether software to manage your MP3 player, you can either drag and drop the file into the icon for your player, or use the MP3 player’s software to control it. If you are a Windows user, it should be possible to use Windows Media Player 10 (freely available from the Microsoft web site) to manage your device. Other manufacturers such as Creative, have their own software which comes with the device.
Podcasting v Streaming
Podcasts and Streaming are 2 ways of getting the same information. The difference is that with Podcasts, you actually get audio file so you can listen when you want to. When you stream, you listen to the audio file from your computer upon request, but you never download the actual file.
Words of Warning
Podcasts are really just computer files. They are quite large. This means they will take a while to download, and will take up space in your player. Be sure to clear out old podcasts regularly. Your software can control this by setting the number of old podcasts to keep.
Secondly, podcasts are addictive. It is possible to download more podcasts than you have time for. So select your podcasts wisely.
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