Millions of iPods have been sold, and particularly popular are the smaller, less expensive models shown above.

30 and 40 gigabyte models feature photos and video media capabilities.

iRiver MP3 Player

Sony Network Walkman MP3 Player

What is Podcasting?

At left is the ubiquitous iPod from Apple in some of its different flavors. It's the most popular music listening device ever made that helped spawn an industry and change radio and the recording industry forever.

Article by Sharon Housely

odcasting is quickly becoming a buzz word among the techie crowd. So what is podcasting, anyway? Podcasting is online audio content that is delivered via your MP3 media player's browser tool. Many people liken podcasting to radio on demand. However, in reality, podcasting gives far more options in terms of content and programming than radio does. In addition, with Podcasting, listeners can determine the time and the place, meaning they decide what programming they want to receive and when they want to listen to it. Listeners can retain audio archives to listen to at their leisure. While blogs have turned many bloggers into journalists, podcasting has the potential to turn podcasters into radio personalities.

Podcasting can be used for:

1. Self-Guided Walking Tours - Informational content.

2. Music - Band promotional clips and interviews.

3. Talk Shows - Industry or organizational news, investor news, sportscasts, news coverage and commentaries.

4. Training - Instructional informational materials.

5. Story - Story telling for children or the visually-impaired.

Podcasting works the same as a standard music file download, the only difference is that it's usually free (from the school district in any event), and it automatically (depending on your iPod's preference settings) uploads to your device and is stored there waiting for you to listen to it.

While podcasting was named for the iPod, you do not have to have an iPod to listen to a podcast. Podcasts can be displayed on websites with clickable links to audio files and you can just listen to them on the website from which they originate using your MP3 music application.

Webmasters are finding creative ways to provide media-rich content. The syndication aspect and potential increase in audience size are an attractive lure. Listeners benefit from podcasting because it is a means to publish content that ultimately gives the recipient the control over the information they want to see or hear.

About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for NotePage a wireless text messaging software company.

How Podcasting Works (republished from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia)

Podcasting enables independent producers to create self-published, syndicated "radio shows," and gives broadcast radio programs a new distribution method. Listeners may subscribe to feeds using "podcatching" software (a type of " aggregator "), which periodically checks for and downloads new content automatically. Some podcatching software is also able to synchronise (copy) podcasts to portable music players. Any digital audio player or computer with audio-playing software can play podcasts. The same technique can deliver video files, and some aggregators can play video as well as audio.

Podcasting Q&A
by Gary Olsen, Webmaster for the Dubuque Community School District, iPod owner and Podcaster

Q: Do I have to buy an Apple iPod to take advantage of this technology?

A: No. There are all kinds of competing devices on the market that utilize MP3 audio file technology. iRiver is one example of a very popular device and Sony is marketing a variety of devices. Some cell phones are even equipped to download and play MP3 music and voice files.

Q: How does the podcasts get into the player unit?

A: Software accompanies your unit that can best be described as "music management software." It turns your home computer into a "mother ship" that contains your entire digital music collection, that which you copy from your CDs, and that which you purchase and download from sites like iTunes, Rhapsody, and Wal-Mart music services on the Internet. There are all kinds of sites from which you can download music for your player unit.

Q: Can I listen to podcasts on my computer without downloading them into my device, or what if I don't have a device? Can I still listen to them?

A: Yes. You don't need a player. You already have player software as part of your web browser's capabilities. Any file you click on will automatically play on your desktop computer.

Q: What's the best product and best software?

A: That's difficult to say, but if popularity is any indication of success, quality and consumer ease of use, it would have to be Apple's line of iPod's. But there are several new and exciting competitors out there and they are serving to provide the consumer with a choice and lowering prices all around. That's good for consumers. Apple's software, "iTunes," is spectacularly easy to install and run. But RealPlayer is also easy to use and remarkably popular. Windows Media Player is also a competitor in this market. The Microsoft giant, however, has not been as successful, relatively speaking, with their Windows Media file format compared to Apple's. Perhaps this is because Apple's product plays across platforms (Mac and WINTEL PC operating systems), and Microsoft's product is more proprietary.

Q: How do I download a podcast from the Dubuque Schools' Website?

A: Just click on the file and it will either play in your desktop computer's player immediately, or you can right click on the link and download it into your hard drive. From that file location, it will be downloaded into your portable device by your music management software. Depending on how you have your device configured, it may be more automatic or, if your software requires more interaction from you, you'll have a few more clicks to perform to select the file and load it from your desktop player software.

Q: So what is MP3 technology, actually? How does this work?

A: MP3 is a recording compression/decompression standard that is best described as a mathematical algorithm that allows digital music files to be compressed into a size small enough to enable it to fly over networks like the World Wide Web. It's a mathematical equation that carefully analyzes a digital sound file and eliminates some of the high and low fidelity sound information that is imperceptible to human ears but that take up file space and bandwidth. The resulting MP3 file can play on any device that can decompress the mathematical equation and re-assemble the file.

We call MP3 an industrial standard because it was jointly developed by manufacturers and software developers in the business of digital recording including the makers of the iPod, publishers of music like RCA, entertainment businesses, etc., and that standard was shared industry wide to encourage participation in this bugeoning market. But we digress.

The job of decompressing the file from the web and allowing you to play it on your computer or listening device belongs to the player software. The software on your computer uses the mathematical data to recreate the sound file on the client computer using your computer's data processor and on-board sound card to convert the digital data into an analog signal that transmits electrons to your computer's speakers or earphones allowing you to hear the recording.

Q: How do you make an MP3 file to post on the web?

A: We have software (Adobe Premiere is one) we use to produce our shows for podcasting and these programs have export features that create the MP3 file and we simply post the resulting files to the Internet for you to download. It's pretty simple. We put the file on our web server, provide a link to it on a web page, you click on it and your player software deploys to put the file on your computer. Then you decide what you want to do with it... listen to it immediately, and it will stream and play on a fast connection. Or elect to just save it in your recordings list (you may want to create a separate playlist of just podcasts) and download them to your portable player device.

About the Author: Gary Olsen has written two books on how creativity is enhanced by technology, and he is currently the webmaster and community affairs coordinator for the Dubuque Community School District, Dubuque, IA. He's also a former broadcaster and he produces poscasts and short documentary films for the school district among his duties. He also teaches photography, graphic design and multimedia production at Clarke College. You can communicate with him at golsen@dubuque.k12.ia.us or visit his website at www.garyolsen.com.