Chapter 1. An Overview of Podcasting

In this chapter

• Podcasting Is Radio As You've Always Loved ItOnly Better

• How Podcasting Works

• Getting Inside the Listener Experience

• The Differences Between Radio and Podcasting

Podcasting is an easy and inexpensive method for creating radio-like content that can then be distributed over the Internet. It provides you, as a content creator (that is, podcaster), with capabilities that were previously available only to professional broadcasters and required prohibitively expensive tools.

Podcasting also provides your listeners with a listening experience that has several important advantages over what they get with traditional radio.

iPods Aren't Necessary

The term podcasting is a portmanteau, or a "new word that's formed by joining two others and combining their meanings." (WordNet 2.0, © 2003 Princeton University.) The two words in this case are "iPod," referring to Apple's popular portable music player, and "broadcasting." The term is something of a misnomer, however, insofar as podcasting does not require an iPod. Any portable music player will do quite nicely or, in a pinch, a podcast can be listened to on a computer. In fact, there is a lively, ongoing debate within the podcasting community about whether or not the term is going to stick. In the absence of a good alternative, though, it looks as though it's going to be with us for the foreseeable future.