The growth of podcasting is tied closely to the technology that
drives it. This is not to say that bad content can succeed (after all,
unwatchably bad content is still unwatchable). But podcasting offers an
audience options that make watching your programs convenient. In this day and
age, there is no shortage of content, but making good content easier to acquire
and consume increases the likelihood it will be watched. Podcasting technology ensures
that finding and downloading programs is easy, and that the fi les are broadly
compatible with several playback devices. Below i highlight some of the key
podcasting technology that today’s media professional should know;
Using a Podcast
Aggregator
In order to make podcasts easier to
find and consume, most people choose to use a podcast aggregator. An aggregator
can be a stand-alone software application or a website. Consumers use podcast
aggregators to browse podcasts that they are interested in. The podcasts can
then be subscribed to for consumption of future episodes.
An aggregator automates their process
of checking for new content. The users specify how often their aggregator
should check for new content: check every fi ve minutes, check every hour,
check once a day, and so on. Once new content is found, the user can also
specify what should happen. An aggregator can download everything that’s new,
download the latest episode, or simply inform the user that new content is available.
If a user wants to consume video podcasts, a broadband Internet connection is
very desirable. While a podcast can be consumed over dial-up, dial-up is a very
slow way to pull down large fi les. There are podcasting software solutions for
Windows, Mac, and Linux users.
Aggregators can also be
content-management systems. For example, users can manage their podcasts using
Apple’s iTunes or Microsoft’s Zune software. They can choose which episodes to
sync with their portable players as well as how to handle old content (such as
automatically deleting previously watched episodes to save hard drive space).
Apple iTunes
platform solution for podcasts. It
began its life as a simple MP3 player, fi rst introduced in January 2001 at the
MacWorld Expo (nearly a year before the iPod was revealed). The player has
evolved into handling everything from music and audio books to internet radio
and podcasts. The application also ties directly into the iTunes Store, which
is the number one marketplace for both digital music and podcasts.
The iTunes application is available as
a free download. It works on Mac OS X, Windows XP, and Windows Vista. Many
people install the application for its integration with Apple’s iPod and iPhone
product lines. Still, people choose to use it on its own for its flexibility
and convenience.
With the latest releases of iTunes,
Apple has added support for podcasting. Users can choose to manually enter an
RSS feed to subscribe to a podcast or they can browse the iTunes Store. Apple’s
podcast directory in the iTunes Store is the largest available, and most
podcasts see the bulk of their subscriptions coming from this source.
Sony Media Manager for PSP
While the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) (www.sonycreativesoftware.com)
is thought of first and foremost as a gaming system, it has several options for
playing back video assets. Sony enabled content to be viewed via UMD discs, but
only commercially produced titles are available this way. To allow for broader
content, Sony enabled podcasts to be transferred to the device. Additionally,
the PSP includes a wireless Internet connection and a web browser. These tools
allow the PSP to actually subscribe to podcasts and have them download directly
to the device.
Microsoft Zune Marketplace
The Microsoft Zune player
(www.zune.net) is designed to be an alternative to Apple’s iPod. As such, it
has a few features that were not standard on the iPod line, such as an FM tuner
and a web connection. Over time, these features were added to the iPod. At its
original launch though, the Zune lacked what other portable media players had:
support for video podcasts.
In late 2007, Microsoft updated the
Zune player line, as well as their software and marketplace. Support for MPEG-4
video is now native (previously, video podcasts had to be converted to a
Windows only format). The store has a much smaller collection of podcasts to
choose from (launching with just 1000 podcasts at its start). But over time new
shows have been added. Podcasters can suggest their own shows to the Zune
editorial team through a link on the podcast home page.
Adobe Media Player
The Adobe Media Player (www.adobe.com)
is an evolution in podcast aggregators. The tool was designed from the ground
up to enable end users to view Flash video content in more convenient ways
(including offline viewing).
In late 2007, Flash evolved to be able
to play H.264 encoded video as well. This significantly broadened the
capabilities of the Adobe Media Player which launched in the Spring of 2008.
The program offers fairly standard features similar to those of other
podcasting aggregators, including the ability to catalog and search for shows.
The Adobe Media Player supports RSS, which allows subscriptions and automatic
download of content. Where the player becomes unique is in its customization.
The player offers advertising or branding space, which allows graphical content
to be preloaded into the player. New graphics can also be dynamically loaded.
This opens up options for both internal uses for corporations and broader
advertising solutions. The player also supports significantly more powerful
measurement tools that can offer statistics to the podcaster about viewership
habits and consumption.
Miro Podcast Player
The Miro podcast player
(www.getmiro.com) evolved from a previous product called the Democracy Player.
The player software is unique in its broad support for platforms. Besides
supporting Windows and Mac, the software runs on several versions of Linux,
including Ubuntu and Fedora. Miro is well suited for several types of online
video because it can play MPEG, QuickTime, AVI, H.264, Divx, Windows Media, and
Flash video. The software is an open source project, which means it has been
developed by several programmers in an open-access model, as defi ned by the
Open Source Initiative (www.opensource.org).
Like other podcatching software, Miro supports the use of playlists and RSS
subscriptions. You can also group your content and organize your shows, setting
them to expire if you want to manage your hard drive usage. The tool is quite
elegant and offers an open source option to those who shy away from the larger
manufacturers. Most importantly, Miro is the link that brings podcasting to
other platforms besides Mac and Windows. The software has also been localized
to more than 40 languages, which makes it a popular tool outside of the
English-speaking world.
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