Slashdot Mirror
Linux Appliance Brings Podcasts to the People
An anonymous reader writes "Linux has been used to create a podcast capture appliance that aims to make podcasting as dead-simple as possible, in order to give everyone a 'voice in public discourse, not just those who own TV towers. [...] Aimed at corporations, schools, radio stations, and churches, the "Podcast in a Box" appliance starts recording when a USB key is inserted, and uploads the podcast to a server when the key is removed. The product is also available for free as a live/installer ISO image based on Ubuntu.'"
On the software side, the PIAB is currently based on the "Hoary Hedgehog" release of Ubuntu Linux, with a "Dapper Duck" live/installer CD image in the works. In addition, the PIAB uses a variety of open-source software packages, including icecast, darkice, perl, and ruby-on-rails. "We do as much as possible in 'agile' programming environments," Dawson said.
;-)
Strange I can't find that one listed on the Ubuntu web site!
Common sense is not so common
Linux has been used to create a podcast capture appliance that aims to make podcasting as dead-simple as possible, in order to give everyone a 'voice in public discourse, not just those who own TV towers
I hate to burst your bubble, but I think this has already been accomplished by Youtube, to the tune of 1.64 billion dollars worth of "public discourse".
Push Button, Receive Bacon
The PIAB is based on a mini-ITX motherboard powered by a 1.3GHz x86-compatible Via processor and equipped with 256MB of SDRAM and an 80GB hard drive. Audio is supplied by an onboard Intel audio chipset. The system is housed in an off-the-shelf mini-ITX case from Travla.
Come down? That was about $500 worth of hardware 2 years ago, it never should've been that high. I can understand they want to make a profit on it, but 4x what its worth seems excessive.
PIAB has been available for about two years, priced at $2,000. Alternatively, it can be obtained for free as a live/installer ISO from the Box Populi website, although that site appears to be down at the moment.
You think they could've at least done enough research to include the correct domain name in their article.
This is not linux.com why start the article with "Linux was used to create XYZ" versus "XYZ was created .. it uses Linux".
Or should we still be wowed by the ability of Linux to act as an OS.
I don't get it. So you plug in a USB key and it records from the Mic input to the USB key. then you plug it into a webserver, and i assume use a GUI to import the audio file into your website. This is hardly a quantum leap over just recording an mp3 on your pc and uploading it to the web, except you have to buy a $2000 webserver and have physical access to it.
am i missing the point or something?
(1.21 gigawatts) / (88 miles per hour) = 30 757 874 newtons
"...[fumble noise] Ok, it's plugged... Is it? Wait... shouldn't someting pop up? Hmmm... [more fumble noise] Look into WHAT? Ok, I'm typing, tell me... [click, click] D, M, E, S, G, correct? ... It says USB Mass Storage device detected, ok? Now what? SCSI? What has this to do with SCSI? Ah, I'll trust you on this...
[click, click][more fumble noise] Hello, here is Mark for another issue of Mark My Words, news from the world and stuff that matters to me..."
Nuffsaid
________
Don't know about his cat, but Schroedinger is definitely dead.
Ugh. How is a $2K server appliance supposed to help the average person make a podcast?
How is this more "accessible to the people" than, say, any of the podcast by phone (or other hardware you already own) services out there?
This is a $2000 device that can record and MP3 and upload it. Ooooh. That's so much overkill for what it does I can hardly comprehend. If they had built that functionality into the USB key, and sold it for, say $80 USD, they might have some takers.
(And I'm not even getting into the "no one cares what you have to say" part of podcasts. We went through this same stupid thing with every form of media since speech was invented.)
For those who said it has been done before;
"aims to make podcasting as dead-simple as possible, in order to give everyone a 'voice in public discourse, not just those who own TV towers. [...]"
YouTube and other solutions still require the user to understand and be comfortable with recording and uploading content. This device is aimed at markets serving people afraid to use ATMs. Perhaps many people here are too young to remember the days where the vast majority of VCRs flashed zeros because of the inability of the general public to set the time.
For those who said it was too expensive;
"Aimed at corporations, schools, radio stations, and churches, the "Podcast in a Box" appliance starts recording when a USB key is inserted, and uploads the podcast to a server when the key is removed."
Frankly my problem is that, at this price point, you should get something that has a better form factor. I would think a device that looks like an audio recorder with rewind/fast forward/play buttons and level meters would be appropriate. However it appears that in many cases this device is being used in environments where the content was prerecorded, for example radio stations. In those cases the form factor and controls on this box are appropriate. The company specifically mentions the desire to tailor the box to the customer's needs.
For those who questioned the prominence of Linux in the subject;
"Linux Appliance Brings Podcasts to the People"
The message here is not that "Linux is great, all hail Linux" the message is a marketing one. The term Linux Appliance is gaining great traction in the semi-technical literate community as a piece of hardware that can be dropped on a network to perform computer-like functions with very little configuration or support, like a TiVo. It implies (often incorrectly) a freedom from recurring fees (see TiVo). A customer's comment on the companies web site supports this statement "Our previous Windows solution crashed all the time; we never even think about our Linux appliances, they just work." Please note that the prominence of the term Linux Appliance was not limited to Slashdot, that is how this product was covered on other sites as well.
While the Asterisk server is a great idea and I encourage you to build it, the point of this box is that it can be purchased, it works in tandem with a either the hosting server or the hosting service that is marketed to the same customers that are the target for this device. It does not require connection to a phone system that may incur a monthly charge and should be simpler for a non-technical staff to install and operate. Additionally this box is not subject to quality issues that might be encountered in a phone based system. The key to this solution is the end-to-end nature and hands off operation, the Asterisk solution you propose would be a nifty enhancement to one element of that solution. Frankly I think it has greater potential because content could be recorded and stored and then released for upload on a second call without any greater complexity than a typical voice mail system.
Chris Dawson from Box Populi here.
We are really looking hard at our pricing.
Pricing is a challenge because you are not only paying for the hardware and software (which has been costly to develop over the last three years), but you are also paying for the production support assistance. We have a support infrastructure in place that can assist you when you are in the midst of capturing a podcast and something goes wrong, or you need to troubleshoot an upload problem (whether that is a problem with your network or our appliance), and so on. Production is very costly, and most people who have never done that don't understand how costly it really is, so it is something people shake their heads at initially. But, I do think if you ask our customers (look at our websites and read quotes from our customers) that you would find our support is second to none and worth it, and it because they now understand the costs of production.
Something that people on this site especially should take note of is that if you put something out as free (as in beer) open source software, many people then don't perceive value in that software, as wrong as that is. Open source enthusiasts understand the value of free software, but most people (like teachers for example) might be inclined to think something is worthless if it doesn't cost money. Therein lies the dilemma. So, charging for it, charging for support, or charging for anything gets harder and harder even as we try to be more and more open with our source code. We've tried to make it as easy as possible for our customers to get access to our source code without putting ourselves in too much financial hardship. But, there is a delicate balance there we are searching for.