I was reading Tim Bray's take on Podcasting a few minutes ago and realized that he's done a good job of saying what I've been trying to figure out how to say for a while now.
How's that for a long sentence?
Anyway, had I not been so behind on my reading, I'd have already read Russell's PodCommuter post, in which he talks about how he's hooked on Podcasting. And I would have been able to talk with him about it when he was sitting in my bullpen a few hours ago.
It's amusing to see how Russ really gets into stuff that I try and just end up sort of shaking my head at. I need to hang out with him more often.
Posted by jzawodn at January 05, 2005 09:42 PM
I think both you and Tim are mistaking *content* for the *technology*. It's the technology that's revolutionary, but you may not see it unless you've found the right content. Honestly, "podcasting" as it is now is nothing more than time-shifted spoken-audio content, which varies in quality considerably. But once you get the right content and use the technology in the right context (while running, walking or commuting) the light suddenly switches on and you realize how valueable it is. That's the epiphany I've had lately. Tim is trying to apply the rules and concepts of blogging to podcasting and it doesn't compute. Podcasting may use some of the same technologies as blogging (RSS) but it's a completely different beast altogether with an inherent value of its own. Some people will never grok blogging, some will never write their own blog, but love reading them, fewer still the reverse. I see the same sort of adoption pattern for podcasting.
-Russ
I liked Tim's post also - i cant beleive you like the curry chaps stuff Russell, i've never heard anything so dreadful in my life. He just sounds like some dweeb that always wanted to be a DJ and spends far too much time admiring himself in the mirror.
Your right about content though, most of the stuff out there is dreadful, but then so are most of the blogs and websites out there - it's all about finding the good stuff...
Im enjoying ITConversations immensely at the moment, but i find the casts coming from GeekNewsCentral dreadful, which i was really surprised at - not everyone is cut out for "radio" :-)
Nick
Podcasting is for control freaks like Dave Winer, or broadcasters like Adam Curry, who want to force you to listen to them rant in the way they lay it down, so you have to listen to the whole thing in order to find the few little bits you might really be interested in.
Text is so much better. I can scroll rapidly, scanning to see what I want to read. You can't do that with audio files. In a text web page, I control the presentation with my browser preferences, I can even override their stylesheets with my own. Podcasting is another attempt to sieze control of the user experience. That's not what the Web is about.
I find the "The Gillmor Gang" to be a great example on when this format is better than regular weblog writing. The interaction is much more condensed than weblog posts and comments and links. It brings more information in shorter times.
Hi Jeremy
What do you think about the potential of HighBeam, the search engine of the Chief Blogging Officer?
Thanks for your comments.
Regards
theglobalchinese
I don't understand this antipathy any more than I understand the "I'd rather read it" crowd. All the facts stated are true, but the conclusions seem cockeyed. I'd rather read than hear most information as well. But I'm not always in a situation where I can read-- like when I'm driving or at work when doing paperwork and other things. I used to turn to the radio. No one complains that they would rather read the news they are hearing on the radio, and no one expects that one will sit in front of the radio and listen to it while doing nothing else. Podcasting has come to replace a lot of that because I can choose what to listen to (even more radically than I can through surfing webcasts), listen to it while I am disconnected, and get much different content than otherwise. What's not to love?
Of course this is just the early stages, so content is very hit or miss, but I am hoping that will continue to change for the better, following the curve it has been taking so far...
