You don’t have to be a geek to enjoy podcasts
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You do not need an iPod to enjoy podcasts! I have to say that quick and loud right up front, because unfortunately most people hear ‘podcast’ and assume it’s only usable with an iPod or MP3 player, which is not the case at all.
Podcasts are free video and audio files available for easy download. You can watch or listen to them on your computer (my method), you can transfer them to your iPod or any MP3 player, or you can burn the files to CD/DVD for consumption on other devices (like car stereos or portable DVD players).
The best part about podcasts is you only “subscribe” to them once, and they automatically download to your computer as new episodes become available. The concept is just like recording TV shows with a VCR or DVR. Fix it and forget it.
Podcasts are produced by a range of people and corporations. The variety ranges from the mainstream media nightly news released in podcast form to professionals in a variety of industries and ordinary people releasing their own new media casts.
The quantity is skyrocketing into the tens of thousands and the quality is generally good to great. Remember when blogs exploded in popularity, yet most blogs were incredibly boring? Podcasts are more expensive to host and serve, and take more time to create, so poor quality podcasts thankfully die an early death.
I could go into great details trying to explain all the aspects of finding and subscribing to podcasts, but this article would become ridiculously long. It is also unnecessary, because the process is so easy as to be intuitive to everyone. If you do have difficulties, simply post a comment with your question and concern and I will help you out.
The first step to getting podcasts is software. I use the free and simple iTunes music player offered by Apple. Using the iTunes music player does not mean you are obligated to pay anything to Apple or the iTunes music store. I have never paid for one single item from their store, ever.
Download the latest iTunes player here. If you open iTunes and are prompted for an update, you should usually take it. Clicking the “Yes” button will not start a download, but it will launch a new browser tab at the Apple iTunes download page, where you simply click to start the download.
The iTunes display can be analogized as a browser like Firefox or Internet Explorer. Instead of browsing Internet pages, it browses your audio and video files. Referring to the screenshot, notice I tagged the three main areas with a red target, a red push pin, and a red light bulb.
The area with the red target is your main organizational directory of audio and video files (think of them as folders). The red push pin area is the list of audio or video files contained in the folder currently selected in the red target area. The red light bulb area is where video files show if you are playing a video file. Most music or audio files also display visuals in that box.
One hint I will give about using iTunes as your music player is that the “Music” folder is where you want to import all of your music (via File > Add Folder to Library). Then you can create custom playlists (via File > New Playlist) and drag music from the main music folder to the individual playlists. For example, I obviously have a different playlist than my wife, which makes it simple for us to share iTunes but not have to keep reloading our own music. I’m also creating a new playlist with only Christmas music.
iTunes creates a custom playlist automatically for Podcasts. The easiest way to find podcasts is to go to the iTunes music store (click the link in that main navigation area I labeled with a red target). You can click on “Podcasts”, then on specific genres or even “Top 100 Podcasts”.
If you see a podcast that looks interesting, click the title or square art. You will be able to read a description, a star-rating from listeners, and listener reviews (like at Amazon.com).
If you would like to try the podcast, simply hit the “Subscribe” button. After subscribing to one or more podcasts, click on the podcasts playlist in the upper left corner (the red target area), and you will notice the podcasts downloading.
You will also notice that each podcast type downloads the latest episode and gives you the option to download past episodes.
If you ever decide you don’t like a podcast so much, simply highlight it and hit your ‘delete’ key. It will be gone even easier than it was to first subscribe to it.
Some of my favorite podcasts include the daily 60-Second Science, and the weekly TWiT, Cranky Geeks, Never Not Funny, Windows Weekly, DL.tv, and Diggnation (widely showcased across mainstream media the last several months). You can find these easiest by searching for them by name in the iTunes music store.
I realize I had to be very brief with this article, but I would be happy to help with any questions or problems you might have in trying out podcasts. Simply post a comment with your question or concern, and I will respond (usually within a couple hours).
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Comments
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0 yes you do!
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0 0 Fans of the east idaho radio show, the Neal Larson Show, can also subscribe to the podcast of his show in iTunes.
He provides a ’subscribe’ type of link on his website, but I could not get a subscription going in my iTunes.
The way to do it is in iTunes hit the “Advanced” pull-down menu, and select the third option down, “Subscribe to podcast…”
The prompt asks you to enter the URL of the podcast you want, and you enter this:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheNealLarsonShow
You will thereafter notice the Neal Larson show download automatically in your iTunes like any other podcast.
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0 0 Our company produces and hosts video podcasts for businesses and individuals. Let us know if we can help any video production needs you may have.
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0 0 Car Talk also has a podcast now. They used to only offer the best call of the week, but they also now offer the full weekly version.
Again, these are always FREE, even though you subscribe to them through the iTunes music store.
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whew, slow day, time to all start commenting again!
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Looking at my podcast list, I also like Ask a Ninja, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy Hip Tips, Comedy Central stand up videos, Grammar Girl’s quick and dirty tips for better writing, and This week in law.