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Podcasting(Redirected from Podcast)
Podcasting is a way of publishing files to a website that allows users to subscribe to the site and receive new files as they are posted. Most podcasts are spoken word audio created by individuals, often on a particular theme such as technology or movies. Because new files are downloaded automatically by subscribers, podcasting allows individuals to have a self-published, syndicated radio show. Users subscribe to podcasts using podcast reader software, which periodically checks for and downloads new content. It can then sync these to the user's portable music player, hence the portmanteau of Apple's "iPod" and "broadcasting." However, podcasting does not require an iPod: any digital audio player or computer with the appropriate software can play podcasts. Podcasting can be thought of as an audio magazine subscription, in that a subscriber receives programs without having to get them, and can listen to them at leisure. It can also be described as the internet equivalent of timeshift-capable digital video recorders (DVRs) such as TiVo, which let users automatically record and store television programs for later viewing.
TechnologyThe majority of podcasts are audio files in MP3 format, syndicated through the RSS protocol. Other formats and other types of files, such as video, can also be podcast, although these are limited by common bandwidth constraints. Comparison to broadcasting, webcasting and autocastingPodcasting differs from broadcasting and webcasting in how content is transmitted; instead of a central audio stream, listeners download audio files automatically. Podcasts can also include metadata, such as dates, titles, and descriptions. Podcasting differs from autocasting in content; podcasts are generally voice broadcasts, while autocasting is speech-synthesized versions of text blogs. Unlike traditional radio or streaming media, podcasts are time-shifted, meaning listeners control when they wish to hear the recording. This has disadvantages, since podcasts cannot have live listener participation or reach large numbers of people as quickly as radio can. However, podcasting has significant advantages over traditional methods of broadcasting is the egalitarian nature of podcasting. In most countries, the radio spectrum is heavily regulated and personal broadcast licenses are difficult or impossible to obtain. Podcasting allows individuals to easily transmit content worldwide. HistoryPodcasting was developed in part thanks to Adam Curry's original iPodder[1] script and the success it fostered since [2] August, 2004. Dave Winer had added an "enclosure" element to the RSS 2.0 specification, as he explained in 2001[3]. UserLand Software, Winer's company, added the enclosure feature to its blogging software and built-in aggregators. Bloggers including Harold Gilchrist[4] and Curry were early users of the feature. Winer, at Harvard in 2003-2004, helped former National Public Radio talk-show host Christopher Lydon [5] attach audio files to his Harvard weblog. Lydon's full-length interviews, which focused on blogging and coverage of the 2003-2004 U.S. presidental campaigns, helped inspire Curry's iPodder script. The term "podcasting" was used in a Guardian article "Audible revolution: Online radio is booming" [6] on February 12, 2004, but without reference to the automatic-sync concept. Dannie J. Gregoire used the term on September 15, 2004 to directly describe the "automatic download and synchronization" idea that Adam Curry had developed. Gregoire had registered domain names associated with podcasting including podcasting.net. That usage was discovered and reported on by Dave Slusher of the Evil Genius Chronicles [7] and Adam Curry [8]. Adding to a number of ad-hoc 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. While bloggers had the RSS technology in place, radio stations had audio content, some already in streaming media digital formats. In late 2004 and early 2005, several non-commercial public radio stations in the United States and the United Kingdom found podcasting well-suited to their style of storytelling, interview, comment and discussion programs. Examples: WNYC (On the Media) in New York and WGBH (Morning Stories) in Boston. The BBC launched its first podcast, of the radio show In Our Time in October 2004. There are also .MP3 files regarding current science and technology news and event from Voice of America: [9]. In addition in Canada, CBC Radio One is experimenting with the format with at least one regular radio show, Quirks and Quarks being available for downloading. In Australia, the ABC's Triple J Network is making a number of programs - including current affairs, science and live music - available for downloading on the Triple J podcasts page. In the United Kingdom in April 2005, the BBC announced that it was going to distribute twenty of its radio programmes in the form of podcasts. In Spain the private radio station Cadena Ser has also started to podcast most of its programs including a spanish manual on the http://www.cadenaser.com/static/podcast/ayuda_podcast.html website. Related termsExternal links
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