What the Heck is PODCASTING?
In 2005, the editors of the New Oxford American Dictionary declared “podcasting” the word of the year, defining the term as “a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program, made available on the Internet for downloading to a personal audio player”. That’s pretty good, but it is no longer good enough.
Here’s another one, from Wikipedia.org: “A podcast is a multimedia file that is distributed by subscription (paid or unpaid) over the Internet using syndication feeds, for playback on mobile devices and personal computers. Like ‘radio’, it can mean both the content and the method of broadcast. The latter may also be termed podcasting. The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster.”
Not bad, but I like this one too…
“Podcasting is an automatic mechanism whereby multimedia computer files are transferred from a server to a client, which pulls down XML files containing the Internet addresses of the media files. In general, these files contain audio or video, but also could be images, text, PDF, or any file type”.
OK, all cleared up for you now? No? Here is my definition:
“A podcast is any media content, usually audio or video shows, that are subscribable and transferable, to a consumer for use at any time, on any computer, laptop, portable media or MP3 player.
And no, you don’t need an Ipod to listen to my podcast!”
Netcasting is a synonym, and, if I had my way, would replace the term “podcast” to include blogging, audio, video, music, and pictuers in a channel that can be subscribed to.
As you can see, there are many different things that mean “Podcast”, but the simplest thing I can say about it is this: “Whatever makes an MP3 or Video file a Podcast is that you can subscribe to it, usually for free, and it downloads automatically, whenever the author releases a new episode.” That’s it. It really is that simple. Make a file, put it on the internet, and tell people to subscribe to it.
Our sister company, ESP Podcasting produces most of our shows, and turns them into Podcasts, where they are mainly hosted on the IPN Network. IPN is a free Blog, Podcast, News and Music host for you to create your own content, and get your word out to the masses. Anyone who has an interest, hobby, or message, and wants to shout it out to the world can become a podcaster. You probably have most of what you need already at your disposal.. Now that you have the basics, go to www.ipnetcast.com and start your blog/podcast/news site today!
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