What is a Podcast?
Remember the first
time you heard someone tell you about a podcast?
You looked at them like they were from the
moon then asked what is a podcast? Of course
that was almost four years ago and it seems
like everyone knows what a podcast is now.
But now that it’s 2008, how would you
respond if someone really asked you what is
a podcast? Of course you’d tell them
that it’s a way to distribute media
files over the internet, just like your buddy
told you four years ago, but wouldn’t
you be surprised if someone didn’t know
what a podcast was?
Surprisingly, there are a lot of people who
are unfamiliar with podcasts. Some of the
most internet savvy users have heard of podcasts,
but they’ve never actually made use
of them. Did you know that every day thousands
of people type “what is a podcast?”
into their search engine? While podcasts have
been around for quite some time, people who
do not use the internet on a daily basis are
not consistently exposed to them. It’s
only natural for them to pose the question:
what is a podcast?
As of recently, television news anchors and
commentators have been utilizing podcasts
to summarize their shows, concerns, and reach
out to a broader (maybe even younger) audience.
Even Larry King has decided to podcast his
shows! Can you imagine network executives
trying to explain the purpose of a podcast
after Mr. King asked: what is a podcast? You
can probably bet he followed up the response
to that question with: what is a computer?
It just goes to show that anyone can benefit
from using podcasts. It really doesn’t
matter how old you are.
What is a podcast is a question that should
be asked. It’s not a dumb question.
Unfortunately, there’s very little information
made available to the public about podcasts.
Right now, the only way to really receive
the answer to the question “what is
a podcast” is either by asking a friend
or typing what is a podcast? into a search
engine.
There’s an old expression, the only
dumb question is a question that goes unasked.
So in order to answer the “what is a
podcast?” question, here’s a simplified
answer. A podcast is a digital media file
which is fed to your computer. Digital media
meaning audio or video, can be stored on your
computer to either watch or listen at your
convenience. Most people think they need an
mp3 player or an iPod to listen to a podcast.
This is untrue. Music and videos can be copied
from your computer to your mp3 or iPod if
you want to listen to them on the go, but
you don’t need one of these players
to enjoy a podcast at home.
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