Podcasting

(Ryan is covering for Paul because he's stuck under his car. Paul, that is. Not Ryan. It would be hard to type under a car, after all.)

Podcasting has been the buzzword of the last six months or so, a word used to describe what's essentially an audioblog that is easily synced up with your portable MP3 player. The blogs can be in the format of talk radio, single person "what I did today" entries, or full-blown shows. While a few months ago I considered podcasting to be the biggest non-event in recent memory, my view on it has lightened a bit.

I still don't think it's a huge deal. After all, it's existed in one form or another for a while now, it's just that now with the widespread use of MP3 players and some better software, they're getting easier to use. However, I have found some use for podcasts, and if I were one of those hip young cats riding the subway to his job at a downtown publishing house, I bet I'd use it even more.

I subscribe to about nine or ten podcasts. Some are single MP3 blog-style where one song is featured at a time. These are great because they tend to focus on rare, out-of-print or forgotten music. Some are archived radio shows, like the continually amazing WeFunk. And a few are talk radio-themed around certain political issues. I'll either listen at work or in the car, or save a bunch up for a long car ride to visit family. During one six hour trip over Thanksgiving, I caught up on a month's worth of one particular podcast.

I've kicked around the idea of starting a podcast at some point, and still may, depending on what Odeo offers when it launches.

Have you been bitten by the bug yet?