this is meant for
homework purposes, not for publicity or such. all the contents below belongs to
Wikipedia & HowStuffWorks. thank you.
WHAT IS PODCAST?
“A podcast is a series of audio or
video on the web.”
Merriam Webster defines Podcast: a program (as of
music or talk) made available in digital format for automatic download over the
Internet.
A podcast is a digital
medium consisting of an episodic series
of audio, video, radio, PDF, or ePub files subscribed
to and downloaded through web syndication or streamed
online to a computer or mobile device.
The word is
a neologism and portmanteau derived from
"broadcast" and "pod" from the success of the iPod, as
audio podcasts are often listened to on portable media players. (Wiki:
Podcast)
Podcasting is a free service that allows
Internet users to pull audio files (typically MP3s) from a podcasting Web
site to listen to on their computers or personal digital audio players. The
term comes from a combination of the words iPod and broadcasting.
Even though the term is derived from the iPod, you don't need an iPod to listen
to a podcast. You can use virtually any portable media player or your
computer.
Unlike Internet radio, users don't have to
'tune in' to a particular broadcast. Instead, they download the
podcast on demand or subscribe via an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed,
which automatically downloads the podcast to their computers.
HOW TO LISTEN TO PODCAST?
It is very easy to listen to a podcast. Once you
master a few simple steps and search techniques, there are virtually no limits
to what you can hear.
1. Go
to a podcasting site.
2. Click
on the hyperlink for each podcast you want. You can listen
right away on your computer (Windows, Mac and Linux support
podcasting) or download the podcast to your portable media
player.
3. You
can also subscribe to one or more RSS feeds. Your podcasting
software will check the RSS feeds regularly and automatically pull content that
matches your playlist. When you dock your portable media player to your computer,
it automatically updates with the latest content.
Since the advent of MP3 technology, other
audio file types have been created that support different sizes and capacities
of streaming audio. These include AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) and WMA
(Windows Media Audio). No matter the format of your audio, there is
free technology available to make listening possible, such as Windows Media
Player, Apple Quicktime, VLC media player or Winamp.
WHERE TO FIND IT?
Now that you know how to listen podcasts, the next
logical step is to learn where to find podcasts that pertain to your interests. The iTunes Store is
one purveyor of podcasts. Also try consulting directories like The
Podcast Network or The Podcast Directory, and you are
likely to find a listing that intrigues you.
You'll probably find any variety of podcast you
want on the Web, but if you can't seem to find what you're looking
for, you can create your own podcast with relative ease.
Virtually anyone with a computer and recording capabilities can create his or
her own podcast. Podcasts may include music, comedy, sports and
philosophy -- even people's rants and raves. (How Stuff Works:
Podcast)
HOW TO CREATE ONE?
Recording a podcast is almost as easy as listening
to one. Here's how the process works:
1. Plug
a microphone into
your computer
2. Install
an audio recorder for Windows, Mac or Linux (free
software for audio recorders includes Audacity, Record for All and Easy Recorder V5).
3. Create
an audio file by making a recording (you can talk, sing or
record music) and saving it to your computer.
4. Finally,
upload the audio file to one of the podcasting sites (FeedForAll has
a tutorial on how to upload a file).
5. After
recording your podcast, you will want to promote it. FeedforAll and Self Seo offer advice
to guide you through this endeavor. Their recommendations include informing
the public on how to access and listen to your podcast, advertising
your podcast's availability with an eye-catching graphic, writing
a press release to notify the public of your podcast and creating
a niche group of devoted listeners and assessing their responses to
your podcast through installation of a feedburner link. A feedburner link keeps
tabs on the number of times your podcast has been linked to and any new
comments that your listeners have made. This link can be set up through Feed Burner. Tailoring your podcast to your
listeners' feedback makes for happy listeners who will, in turn, do the heavy
lifting of your promotional work for you.
Some experts say podcasting still has a long way to
go before it catches on with the masses, but its growing popularity is
undeniable. It's possible that podcasting will eventually become as popular as
text blogging, which grew from a few thousand blogs in the late '90s to more
than 7 million today. Some podcasts are already providing thousand of downloads
a day, and they're not just entertaining their listeners -- they're also doing
business. We'll see how companies are creating and using video podcasts in the
next section. (How Stuff Works: Podcast)
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/podcasting2.htm
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