Testing 1-2-3, today's broadcast, the podcast
Written by Cara Wednesday, 22 July 2009 19:32
The Princess and the Pea-Podcast began with the beginning of time, so this time let's start with the beginning of the podcasting revolution. The current utilization of podcasting has been exponential in recent years, when 5 years ago, the term was entirely unknown. Its concept has become broader since its birth primarily a result of the advent of the Apple IPod when people began sharing music and also recording and broadcasting themselves, and unlike the broadcaster, the podcaster doesn't even need hair and make-up. What was the subject? Reflecting back to 2005, the term random comes to mind, but also music and now there's more available sites than ever. In pondering all the people in the world, it's not really surprising what people began broadcasting across the Internet. The first audio talk shows can perhaps be compared to Twitter's "What are you doing?" only the podcast never had to ask, though the results were remarkably similar and unruly. The Internet revolution has proven that, when given the opportunity, people will often express themselves, sometimes to the degree of being erased from your Facebook. But podcasting has already evolved from its typical, early childhood uses to a viable means to claim your fame and a business tool on a variety of platforms.
The term itself is perhaps simple when you break it down, a broadcast of digital audio or video files (MP3) over the Internet, and any MP3 compatible digital music player, such as the iPod, may pick up and download these periodic podcasts (Oxford University Press). The beauty of the podcast is the central web feed that maintains file communication can automatically recognize new files and a podcatcher devise can even be attached to a computer or other devise to pick up the podcasts offline. When these files were more commonly being transferred to mobile MP3 devises a new definition arose for the podcast: Personal On Demand broadCAST (Zencast.com).
Once the dust settled the true value of the technology began to be recognized, mainly, one can hook up their iPod to their personal computer or compatible phone and periodically download new songs and shows for free to the user and cheap to the producers. This implies a resolution to the issue in the 90's regarding music pirating (The Princess and the Pea-Podcast) but also so much more. For musicians, this is the ability to broadcast oneself or band to a potentially huge audience for essentially free, less the cost of the affordable equipment. The ideal interest in society seems to unsuccessfully attempt to steer us to a system based on merit and perhaps this technology has steered us closer than these efforts accidentally, in just a few years.
If you Google "Podcast Resources" expect about 48 million results and amongst them some great directories and sites. The best thing to do to find your favorite music is to simply search the artist name and podcast. Podcast sites are aplenty, they even cater to your operating system and can offer a variety of other resources as well. When you find a site you like check out the links and everyone can be a PJ, Podcast Jockey or at least have a good modern equivalent to the mix tape. The capabilities of MP3 players are a far cry from the number of songs on a mix tape and simple ones are available for around twenty bucks.
Outside of music, broadcasting has always been the messenger that once traveled by mule, but is now at your pseudo doorstep in seconds, so many industries have capitalized on the technology. Talk radio, news stations, commentaries and the like to supplement their original means of broadcast in a remarkably affordable and often effective way. Other industries are taking the opportunity to define their craft, talk about it, podcast it and reap the benefits of free advertising. Its also a new platform for anyone's voice to literally be heard, no matter your cause. Technology is changing the world at large in many ways, and when you throw a recession into the mix, perhaps we are now arriving at a technology with promising implications and an affordable solution to share music and more.
