What is the best way to introduce me to podcasts? Strap me to the passenger seat, hook up the iPod into the car’s stereo system, and force me to listen to an entire episode of Security Now.
Not exactly subtle, but it worked. After all, who can refuse a half hour with Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte, who, in my opinion, are two of the most interesting people in the world? (And did I mention that I find geeks very sexy? 😉 )
By the way, I would be using the word podcasts and netcasts interchangeably. I have more preference to the latter, if only because podcast is too associated with the iPod (who everyone knows I don’t find exactly amazing … yet).
Yes, I have a thing against iPods. However, let’s move on before I distract myself even further and start rambling about Apple’s vertical monopoly (but let me get this out the way: iTunes suck).
The term "podcast" combines the words: broadcast and (egad) iPod. The term has been redefined to mean personal-on-demand or personal audio. A netcast/podcast is an audio (or video) file which you can download or listen to online. Think of it as listening to your favorite radio talk show – on demand.
In my initial search for available netcasts, Yahoo didn’t let me down. Just as it was my first search directory, it again became my first netcast haven. Just recently, I’ve shifted to Odeo, as it allowed me to subscribe to netcasts without the need to install any software.
I also installed Juice, which is what you call a netcast aggregator. It basically alerts you when there are new episodes available, and allows you to download these episodes directly to your hard drive.
Convenient, no?
Leave a Reply