They call it “podcasting,” and it works like this:
You get an iPod (or similar personal music player). You get iTunes. You download a program called iPodder. You tell iPodder about some podcast streams — RSS feeds with special MP3 enclosures. Then, you forget about it. While you sleep, iPodder reaches out across the network to check for new MP3s. If it finds them, it downloads them — and iTunes syncs them onto your iPod.
The next morning, you grab it and go — and enjoy all the fresh content on your way to work.
Okay, one problem: There ain’t that much fresh content.
Most of the podcasts today (keep track here and here) are about, um, podcasting. Or blogging. Or, at best, gadgets. But they’re beginning to branch out — and some bloggers are saying this is going to be the next big explosion.
This Chaser helped his buddy, a talented electronic music composer, set up a website with a podcast feed recently. And he’s got to admit: It was pretty sweet to see that first MP3 appear, as if by magic, on his iPod.
So check it out: a convergence of software, protocol, and device, all knit together by a slick open-source app. What’s not to love?
(See E-Media Tidbits’ Steve Yelvington on podcasting as well. Also see Larry Larson’s item on the topic. Larry wrote about this topic in September.)
