23 Things Assignment #7

Podcasts - I listen to them, I've made them (for school, not just for kicks). The future of radio? Possibly. A more egalitarian system? Definitely. I ended up subscribing to Vegetarian Food for Thought, Craft Beer Radio and The Lost Podcast (I couldn't help it). I searched for podcasts with relevant library content, but couldn't find any.

As a regular recreational-user of podcasts, I'm going to look at two things: iTunes vs. Bloglines and how libraries can use podcasts. The iTunes vs. Bloglines question is a no-brainer to me - iTunes is far superior. It has far greater depth for searching for podcasts. None of the podcasts I download (mainly ones from CBC Radio 3) were on podcast alley. The subjects fields also go more in depth in iTunes. Of course, iTunes rarely features independent podcasts (at least from what I've seen), so that is a minus.

Another problem I encountered was that some of the podcasts were no longer current. Many had discontinued and the last episode was from two or three years ago (like LibVibe or Library Geeks.) Yes, the same issues occur on iTunes, but they at least show the most recent dates for podcasts before you subscribe. For The Lost Recap, Bloglines wasn't pulling in all podcasts for some reason, even though I could find the other podcasts elsewhere online. A Bloglines error or the podcasters? Who knows. Made me wonder about some of the other podcasts, though.

My last point on iTunes vs. Bloglines is really a matter of personal preference. I enjoy the fact that iTunes will automatically download my favourite podcasts when they come out, or that I can choose which episodes to download. Once they're downloaded, it's a quick step to get them on my portable music player. iTunes also remembers where I stopped listening to a podcast. And has chapters to help me skip to what I want to hear. But that's just me. If you like just stream your podcasts, then use Bloglines. I'm going to stick to my iTunes, thank you very much.

Podcasts are fairly easy to make, especially using free software like Audacity. Libraries can make them for users, or patrons can join in the fun (imagine a YAG making a podcast!). But podcasting is a large commitment and one that takes its toll and a majority of small podcasters (hence so many dead podcasts that I tried to subscribe to). This is something that applies to all Web 2.0 technologies: the drive has to be there to last past the first two weeks of months.