Free Website Content - What is Podcasting
What is Podcasting
Podcasting is quickly becoming a buzz word among the
techie crowd. So what is podcasting, anyway? Podcasting
is online audio content that is delivered via an RSS feed.
Many people liken podcasting to radio on demand. However,
in reality, podcasting gives far more options in terms of
content and programming than radio does. In addition, with
Podcasting, listeners can determine the time and the place,
meaning they decide what programming they want to receive
and when they want to listen to it.
Listeners can retain audio archives to listen
to at their leisure. While blogs have turned many bloggers
into journalists, podcasting has the potential to turn podcasters
into radio personalities.
Podcasting can be used for:
1. Self-Guided Walking Tours -
Informational content.
2. Music - Band promotional clips and interviews.
3. Talk Shows - Industry or organizational
news, investor news, sportscasts, news coverage and commentaries.
4. Training - Instructional
informational materials.
5. Story - Story telling for
children or the visually-impaired.
Podcasting is the syndication of audio files
using RSS. Podcasting works the same as a standard RSS feed
reader or news aggregator, the only difference is that the
feed you subscribe to contains an audio file in it. Instead
of reading content in your RSS feed reader or aggregator,
you can listen to the contents of your feed using a reader
or aggregator that supports podcasting, or you can listen
to them on an iPod or similar device. While podcasting was
named for the iPod, you do not have to have an iPod to listen
to a podcast. Podcasts can be displayed on websites with
clickable links to audio files and many of the standard
RSS readers, like FeedDemon's latest beta, have begun supporting
audio enclosures.
The audio file that makes the feed a podcast
rather than a standard RSS feed is contained in the 'enclosure'
tag. The easiest way to think of this is as an e-mail attachment.
Although the "enclosure" tag is not new to
RSS feeds and has been included in the RSS v2.0 specification
for about four years, podcasting has only really been around
since August of 2004.
Webmasters are finding creative ways to provide
media-rich content. The syndication aspect and potential
increase in audience size are an attractive lure. Listeners
benefit from podcasting because, like RSS, podcasting is
a means to publish content that ultimately gives the recipient
the control over the information they want to see or hear.
Podcasting Resources -
Podcasting Tools - http://www.podcasting-tools.com
Podcast Alley - http://www.podcastalley.com
PodcastBunker - http://www.podcastbunker.com
Podcasting News - http://www.podcastingnews.com
It will be interesting to see how this publishing
medium develops. Currently, only the technical crowd has
endorsed podcasting as a new audio medium, but the potential
is real and the process is not overly complex. With a little
time I think this field will develop and prosper.
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com
software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and
podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for NotePage
http://www.notepage.net
a wireless text messaging software company.
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appreciated send an email to sharon@notepage.net
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