How to Podcast

ptorrone writes "Engadget shows how to get Podcasts on your iPod and for the DIY Radio enthusiast, how to make your own Podcasts using mostly free tools. What's a Podcast? To put it simply, a Podcast is an audio file, a MP3, most likely, in talk show format, along with a way to subscribe to the show and have it automatically delivered to your iPod or other music device."

Comments

broad-pod-casting!

[pchan-]

bah, that's nothing.
how about modding an (automotive) fm modulator to increase the power output, hooking up an antenna to it, and using your mp3 player as your source? share some interesting radio with the cars parked around you in traffic. bonus points if you attach an led display to your rear window showing "now playing".

Re:broad-pod-casting!

[connorbd]

I think that's exactly what he had in mind, though I don't think it's a terribly practical idea on the FM band, simply because you can't broadcast to more than a couple of cars at a time. It would work a little better on AM (part 15 rules are much more lenient on the AM bands), but really there's a reason they don't do mobile broadcasting.

Of course they don't make transmitters for AM, and it's illegal to mod something like an FM transmitter because of something called type-acceptance -- in other words, the FCC gives your "pocket radio station" implicit approval because it knows what the device is supposed to be capable of. If you mod it, it's no longer legal to use because it doesn't fit the profile that the FCC has on file. (Your mileage/kilometrage may vary outside the United States.) This is the same rule that makes it illegal to mod FRS or CB gear.

Possible uses?

[MinusBlindfold]

Sports scores, weather, news reports, etc? Maybe a college professor can make his lecture available in this format?

Re:All we need now...

[flyingsquid]

...are some decent shows to subscribe too! For some reason, I can't see The Scripting News catching on for the general populace.

I would love it if you could set up your iPod to automatically download NPR in MP3 format.Currently I stream a lot of their programming (Morning Edition, Wait Wait, Fresh Air) through my computer but it'd be great to be able to put this on an iPod and listen to it while running, on the subway, whatever. It's nice to be able to listen to it whenever you want, catch stuff you've missed, rewind, etc.

Re:Unfortunate...

[erick99]

From the article:

So what's a Podcast? To put it simply, a Podcast is an audio file, a MP3, most likely, in talk show format, along with a way to subscribe to the show and have it automatically delivered to your iPod when you plug in to iTunes. The show isn't live, so you can listen to it whenever you want.

I can think of a lot of free content that would work great with this. And while there are things that could be done that wouldn't be illegal, I don't think that trumps the legal uses.

Pod Jockeys

[G4from128k]

Is the commentator/mixer on an iPod a PJ?

Nice timing

[Bluelive]

Finally got my bittorrent proxy working for a few of the audio blog feeds. http://blue.student.utwente.nl/jrss/blbtab.rss its not really usefull yet but i could use some help debugging.

Security Problems? Buffer overruns?

[Discotechnica]

Might this open up some security problems?

iPodderX, which is basically a newsreader that reads RSS 2.0 feeds with enclosures, takes those enclosures and automatically downloads them in the background. If the file is an audio file, it then moves it to iTunes for download to your iPod, so with iPodderX you constantly have fresh content to listen to. iPodderX downloads any type of file, (even Torrents) so you can wake up in the morning with a fresh set of audio shows, video programs, or whatever else you've subscribed to.

What if someone were to take advantage of these auto downloads and use them to send you infected files. Maybe there are problems in iTunes' coding that will allow buffer overruns like those found with JPGs?

For those who don't RTFA

[phrenq]

and start talking about FCC implications, this has nothing to do with broadcasting. It's a way to distribute radio show-type content TO an ipod, not from it. The distribution mechanism is nothing more interesting than downloading an mp3 specified in an rss feed.

Finally, cable access programming for my iPod!

[VidEdit]

Ahh, finally a way to get cable access quality, home-brew radio talk shows delivered directly to my iPod! The world will be changed forever! No longer will I have to worry about listening to up-to-date news and information on my computer or via the radio, now I can listen to old news that has been automatically archived on my mp3 player. And best of all, I don't have to worry about listening to interesting podcasts from the NPR or the BBC because their aren't any.

Don't misunderstand me, having my iPod loaded with mp3s via RSS is a cool idea, but the lack of DRM insures that the copyright and royalty-driven major media players will not be sending out RSS feeds anytime in the foreseeable future. So, podcasting seems destined to be a bit player.

Re:Unfortunate...

[Wanderer2]

My first reaction is to wonder how much of this is illegal.

How could making copies of your own talk show and distributing them over the Net be illegal (except in places like China)? How could listening to someone else's be?

Okay, maybe if your 'talk show' features long clips of copyrighted music... but that's not what the article discusses.

If people keep doing undesireable things, it's only going to lead to undesirable features being built into the iPos and iTunes. It's really only .001% that want to do something like this; why ruin it for everybody else?

1. Make sure you only use that iPod in the approved manner, citizen! 2. I'm not an expert in anyway, but did you just use a semi-colon in the proper manner? Pity that was the highlight of your post for me.

Sorry for the jibes, but I think you've grabbed the wrong stick.

Why would that be your 1st reaction?

[VidEdit]

There are lots of interesting legal uses for this technology. Podcasting is another step forward in democratizing the media.

There is no reason to assume that the "podcasts" are of music, and there is no more chance of piracy from podcasts than from the internet in general. Characterizing people doing podcasts as people "doing undesirable things" is a presumption based on facts not in evidence.

The automatic presumption that computer audio files==piracy is a triumph of RIAA PR but not an actual fact.

More of a danger to iPods and iTunes would be the INDCUCE act and dis-information from Steve Balmer, who implied that iPods with their ability to play un-DRM'dmp3s were the primary vector for pirated music. In fact, iPods, with the success of the iTunes Music store, are the primary success story for DRM, and Microsoft Windows powered PCs are the undeniable leaders in pirated file trading.

How about RSS synching for iPod

[aardwolf204]

How about RSS synching for iPod, or even better, RSS with text-to-speech generation synching.

/me invisions listening to slashdot while jogging.

PS: Do we like or hate engadget? I forget.

Re:Why always the ipod?

[mabhatter654]

because the iPod is very hacker friendly!

Apple went to all the work of building a cool palm-like OS into the thing. There's several books written about it. [kinda like TiVo] As long as the modders keep their fingers off the DRM [cause apple would get in trouble with the riaa] then all the apps and gadgets are cool with them.

Most of the other music devices are just barely music devices... they play only exactly what the manufacturer decides to support in the drivers...and most of the manufactures seem to sabotage "modding" attempts.

The iPod is like the palm pilot in the early 90's. Sure other people tried PDAs but palm was the first to nail it... same with iPod. The "next" thing would be video, but that'll be at least 3-5 years away. iPod is sitting pretty for a while.

Re:another engadget paid placement

[ptorrone]

hey seth- WIN doesn't pay slashot anything at all, ever, i and others on engadget write and edit articles, and submit them, most of what i submit doesn't get approved here, some of the text even gets editted. all that said, i personally try and write articles i think folks would enjoy, if they get picked up and approved, all the better, if they're not that interesting, you won't see them here. if you want to email me feel free to and i'll gladly do my best to answer any questions.