What is Podcasting?

In its simplest form, podcasting is the act of creating a digital multimedia file, usually audio, and then distributing it on the Internet. What distinguishes podcasting from just putting a file on a website is the use of syndication techniques used to make the downloading of new episodes easy and automatic.

Instead of checking a couple of websites for a new audio files every couple of days, podcast listeners make use of software called podcast receivers, aggregators or “podcatchers” to subscribe to an indexes of the episodes called Really Simple Syndication (or RSS) feeds. RSS feeds are simple text files that tell when new podcasts have been made available and where to get them.

This icon appears in the Firefox and Internet Explorer 7 web browsers when automatic RSS feeds are available.

When a new file is available via the podcast’s RSS feed, the podcatching software automatically downloads it to the listener’s computer. One of the most popular podcatchers is iTunes, which in addition to housing the iTunes music store application also functions as a podcast receiver. New files can be listened to on the computer or transferred for a portable digital media device that can be listened to anywhere.

Podcasting gets its name from mashing either the name of one of the most popular MP3 player platforms, the iPod, or the acronym for Portable on Demand (POD) with “cast” from broadcasting. Podcasting is, in effect, a broadcast technology to disconnected portable devices through the use of a computer. The computer and the podcast receiver software takes the place of a radio receiver’s duties in more traditional broadcast technologies like radio and television.

The genius of this technique lies in this simplicity. Podcasting is a broadcast medium without the overhead or hurdles that are inherent to broadcasting. There is no requirement for licensing to broadcast a show as the Internet, unlike the airwaves, are open to virtually everyone. There is also a smaller financial requirement as the tools for podcasting can be relatively inexpensive with free and open source tools popping up all the time which aid in their creation and distribution.

Anyone with a computer, a microphone and some place to store files online can create an audio podcast. Many audio editors (like Audacity), online services (like OurMedia, Youtube, Libsyn and USI’s own Faculty and Media sites), and software packages (like iTunes and Juice) are making it cheaper and easier to generate and listen to podcasts.

Listening to podcasts is a simple as finding a podcast whose subject matter interests you and subscribing to its RSS feed in your favorite podcast receiver. There are podcast directories (including iTunes, Digg’s Podcast directory, and Yahoo’s Podcast directory) that allow you to browse through or search for podcasts based on subject matter. Just find one you like and subscribe to its feed.

Once you have subscribed to a podcast feed, your podcast receiver will automatically download new episodes to your computer and/or your portable media player as them become available.

Photo Illustration Credits: James Cridland, NASA, the Rocketeer, Wikipedia