Podcasting . . .
. . . neatness on the horizon . . .

Podcasting is getting bigger.  Really bigger.  Since Lorraine gave me an I-Pod for my birthday (and I’m lovin’ it although students who have seen me with it are a bit confused at my "non-traditional" use of the beasties as I’ve filled the hard drive but with nary a song, I use it exclusively to listen to lectures so while other folks are walking around with their mp3 players and i-pods blasting music into their headsphere, mine is beaming lectures on hypnosis, neurolinguistics, James Joyce, and the like) I have been looking more and more into podcasting and alternative audio media for delivery other than as straight download from websites but as cast through blogs or the like.

Recently, I’ve been musing about starting my own podcasts . . . hypnocasts, as it were . . . audioblog entries related to what this site is about . . . particularly . . . something to compliment the Waking Dream and free MP3s I already serve up of three varieties . . . trancework approach discussions, trance sessions, and academic lectures or materials for my university classes.  I am looking for both free podcast and free delivery solutions for now (I’m more of a fan of the open source or freely distributed information media age than just commercial stuff, albeit, I am also in favor of commerce when appropriate and am exploring that appropriately as well).

If anyone has a free, easy, and reliable system that would allow me to do that without a lot of technical mumbojumbo, I’d appreciate it.  I don’t know squat about setting up databases or what an rss is and why I need it to run on my server or even a clue as to where to find such tools let alone set them up with minimum hassles . . . please, an idiot’s solution if you please . . . I may have a PhD but that doesn’t mean I actually know what I’m doing with all this stuff.

A bit from Analyst says that podcasting is exploding but that certain markets are being underserved, interesting to note that the erotic podcasts are the most popular segment but they are the least available:

A business consultant says the market for "podcasting" is underserved. While 40% of the Internet-delivered audio shows focus on music, science, technology and comedy, the most popular category for users is erotica, according to Alex Nesbitt, president of Bella Ventures Inc. "The supply is not yet meeting market demands," he wrote in a just-released analysis titled, "The Podcast Value Chain Report." Nesbitt predicts the market for podcasting tools and services will reach $400 million, "in the near future." The business consultant also said podcasts of "enduring content" like ITConversations.com, are likely to become valuable as archives. Capturing university lectures and speeches will drive growth, he added. "Narrowly focused, but very high-value content that is similar to high-priced subscription newsletters, such as investment research, should also have strong commercial appeal," he added.

Actually, there are a few erotic podcasts out there . . . see the list at Fleshbot . . . but it is clear that they are few and far between compared to other market segments and most are for a very narrow market niche.  That isn’t bad, for any of podcasting as the nature of the internet makes it possible for folks in small niches to communicate more easily and to learn that they don’t have to consider themselves isolated loners but can create communities with common interests and values despite geographic separation.

Be that as it may, regardless of niche, podcasting and videocasting (which is likely to take off once personal media players start inundating the market in reliable and portable and inexpensive models) is here to stay and will very likely become intergrated into our online and personal media experiences soon.  The IT Conversations site looks worthwhile as well as an example of expanding archival for variety of podcasts.

Oh, lest I am misunderstood . . . for those, like me, new to this world of pods, casts, and what-have-you . . . you don’t actually have to have an i-pod or even an mp3 player to enjoy this stuff.  You can always have casts downloaded to your computer and play the media from there (or even burn the sets regularly to audio cds if that’s your bent).  There is a growing variety of ways for delivery and for playback.

Welcome to the future, it is interesting . . . albeit, some of the casts will be like the horrible blogs that infest the net and there will be even more nutters with microphones espousing all manner of idiocy . . . but that’s part of the nifty neatness of the online experience . . . there will also be gems galore and even more media overload for us all.  Takin’ the good with the bad and eventually the novelty will wear off and the experience will settle down into something we just take for granted.

  3 comments for “Podcasting . . .
. . . neatness on the horizon . . .