untangling_the_web

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Online Audio, Podcasts, and Audio Search
Last year I predicted that podcasting would be the "next big thing" for the Internet. At
first, I thought I was wrong . While pod casting initially garnered a lot of attention, it did
not take off until the second half of 2006. Fueled in large part by the immense
popularity of digital audio devices such as iPod and the spread of broadband
connections, podcasts and online audio have revolutionized the way people share
and get news, entertainment, and information. While music downloads continue to
dominate online audio, podcasting is coming on strong. And podcasting is not just
for audio: video podcasting-know as vodcasting or vidcasting-is increasing in
popularity, too. Podcasting is recording and broadcasting any non-musical
information-be it news , radio shows, sporting events, audio tours, or personal
opinions-for playback on a computer or a mobile device. "Though podcasters' web
sites may also offer direct download or streaming of their content, a podcast is
distinguished from other digital audio formats by its ability to be downloaded
automatically using software capable of reading feed formats such as RSS or
Atom.,,125
Think of a podcast as analogous to a radio or television broadcast. The podcaster
first makes a file available on the Internet, either an audio file (usually in MP3 format)
or video file 126 (these can be in a number of formats). Then the podcaster
announces the availability of the file using a feed (RSS or Atom) that lists the
available podcasts (very much like individual radio or TV shows) with the title, date,
and a short text description of each episode. Finally, the user either plays the file on
a computer or downloads the file to play it on a portable device such as an iPod
capable of playing MP3 and/or video files.
Podcasting has caught on because it is easy, inexpensive, mobile, flexible, and
powerful. Many websites now serve as directories to help users find podcasts of
every variety anywhere in the world. Podcast search engines generally index
podcast metadata such as title, description, and length, which usually makes
searching for podcasts fairly accurate. To date , audio podcasts remain more
common and popular than video podcasts, but that is changing.
125 "Podcast,' Wikipedia , (19 October 2006).
126 While the terminology is changing, I would say the term "video podcast" subsumes vlogs, which
are a special type of video podcast, l.e., a weblog containing video.
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