David Kidd wonders where all the pod's cast are.
In this month’s PC Authority, Tim Dean’s Tech Horizons column looked at podcasting. In typical Dean style, he showed us how it works, threw in a historical perspective, drew an analogy to other technologies, and ultimately provided an end-to-end view of podcasting. Classic PC Authority.
But it was our hunt for actual podcasts that threw a spanner in the works. Aside from traditional broadcasters like ABC radio (who produce some the best radio shows and podcasts in the country), we struggled to find anything remarkable. We found many amateur podcasts, but unlike blogs where you can skim through the text to find something of note, a podcast requires you to listen to the entire show -- that is, after the file’s been downloaded.
Sure, the technology allows anyone to broadcast, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be good enough to attract an audience. Cheap, high quality digital video equipment lets anyone make a film, but how many truly good, amateur films have you seen? One, two? That’s hardly a revolution. The real revolution lies in the hands of the professionals, who can use digital technology to enhance their films.
Podcasting is getting much hype-time, but it’s still an immature product; it’ll increase, but not at a revolutionary rate. A blog and a film on the complexity scale, so I’d expect there to be more worthy amateur ‘casts than films. And likewise, there’ll be more good blogs than ‘casts.
In the meantime, I’m putting out the call. Do you listen to podcasts? If so, tell me which ones you’re listening to. And if you’re not listening to them, why not? Is the medium too tedious or are you just not finding something that caters for you as an audience?Send me an email at dkidd@pcauthority.com.au
Issue: 137 | June, 2012