Radio is being reborn through Podcasting. The term Podcasting should be familiar to you—I covered it in Part 3 of my look at Self-Publishing in our July issue.
If you didn’t get a chance to read the article you should know that Podcasting is a new way for publishers to deliver content via an RSS 2.0 feed to anyone subscribed (RSS stands for really simple syndication).
The content delivered is usually an MP3 file. MP3 files are compressed audio that any computer is capable of playing.
Users subscribe to Podcasts using "Podcatching" software or an "aggregator." The aggregator periodically checks for new content and downloads it to your computer. It can then sync the content to a portable music player, such as an Apple iPod.
As you've probably guessed by now, the term Podcasting comes from combining the words "iPod" and "Broadcasting." However, Podcasting does not require an iPod. Any digital audio player or computer will do.
What you need to know is that most people have the ability to listen to this type of audio already without further need for expensive software or equipment. Most importantly, there is no requirement for an iPod.
Expanded Support for Podcasting
On June 28, Apple Computer released an updated version of iTunes, its popular free music software available for both Windows and Macintosh. In this latest version of iTunes Apple has added support for Podcasting. Prior to the release of iTunes 4.9, subscribing to Podcasts was not always an easy task. Now it takes just three easy steps: