What is Podcasting?
November 10th, 2006 by 
adminPodcasting is the newest way of delivering audio content in the Information Age. Basically, it involves a small file—usually in MP3 format—which is sent to iPods or practically any portable media player.
In fact, portability is the biggest and most important feature of podcasting. While people have been listening to MP3 files on their computer, the benefit of podcasts is that people can listen to it anytime, anywhere. All they have to do is to sync their listening device to their PC media player. Download, transfer it, and in a blink of the eye, they can have thousands of files in a device as small as their wallet.
The term podcasting was coined and popularized by Adam Curry, who was once a MTV VJ. While he had always been in touch with the music listening habits of the people, he was one of the first to make it very easy to load and transfer files. He invented an Applescript application that made downloading and synching audio files practically automatic. It took out a lot of the inconvenience of transferring files, and in that way, helped make podcasting as popular as it is today.
But Curry didn’t do it alone; he drew from the work of Dave Winer, a programmer who pioneered web logs and was instrumental in the development of XML. WIner was the man behind the RSS software. RSS, as any self-respecting podcasting aficionado knows, is the file that helps deliver podcasting information. It uses the XML format to create so-called ‘channels” where elements (like stories or web logs) are delivered. This became the default mode of transferring meta information. What Curry did was to use the RSS application to audio files.
Podcasting involves four simple steps. First, the publisher creates the podcast and then uploads it to a web server. They then create an RSS feed (also called a news feed) which includes the references to the audio content. An RSS feed will carry the audio file’s name, a short description, and the enclosure with the URL.
The podcast listeners, on the other hand, will then check for any new newsfeeds with a software. This software notifies them if there’s any new file, and then downloads it to a media player. The files are then available for listening anytime.
The convenience and flexibility of podcasting (at least in the sense that you can listen to it whenever you want to) has been compared to TiVo. Some people call it TiVo for the Internet, but that comparison is limited. Like TiVo, you can control the time when you listen to the content. But it goes beyond that. Podcasting has broken the barrier of listening, by creating another way for people to listen. In other words, you’re not just watching TV in a new way—you’ve taken that TV and put it into your pocket.
Podcasting is very versatile—you can put practically any kind of information in it. Interviews, songs, Sunday sermons, tutorials. The new iPod video has also opened a new level of content sharing.