June 15, 2005 437 W - + 69 - 76 What is podcasting?
Podcasting is Internet radio on demand.
It is one of the latest forms of new media to be enabled by Internet
technologies; you decide exactly when and where to listen to podcasts,
and you decide exactly which shows you want to listen to. In effect,
podcasting technology lets you create your own personal radio station.
The word podcasting comes from the two words iPod and broadcasting.
Even though the word is derived from iPod, you DON'T need an iPod to
listen to the shows. Any MP3 player will do, or even just a PC or Mac with an Internet connection and headphones
or speakers.
A podcast consists of an audio file stored in MP3-format that you can
download from the Internet. Once the MP3 audio file has been
downloaded, you can either listen to it directly on your computer, or you can
copy it to your MP3 player so that you can listen to the show whenever
and wherever it suits you.
To start listening to podcasts, you'll need podcast receiving software such
as
iPodder,
which you can freely download and install on your Mac or
PC. Apple's
iTunes for Mac and Windows PCs, now also supports
podcasts. Once the podcast receiving software is installed on your
computer, the
next step is to subscribe (which is free) to the LactStation.net
podcast by entering our podcast feed address
(
http://www.lactstation.net/pod/)
into the podcast receiving program. Once
the address has been added as one of your subscribed feeds, your
podcast receiver will automatically download new shows to your computer
every
time you run it. Podcast receiving programs are also known as
"aggregators", because they automatically download all new shows from
all the different podcast shows you have subscribed to, and gather them
together so that you can listen to them at your convenience. In effect,
the podcast receiver saves you the trouble of having to manually visit
each of the web sites for the shows you want to listen to, to see if
there have been any new editions, and then download the MP3 files to your
computer.
If you find all this technobabble intimidating and confusing,
don't worry! There's a simple guide on the top
right-hand side of this web site's
front page to get
you going quickly with specially preconfigured editions of iPodder
for the PC and Mac.
When LactStation.net has whet your appetite to podcasting,
you're sure to want to subscribe to more podcasts. Online podcast
directories such as
Podcast Alley and
www.ipodder.org list thousands of shows you can subscribe to for free.
three comments, already:
Definitely feeling my way here!!!I feel like we're on the verge of something very exciting!
Katrina () - June 19, 2005 - 22:06
I am very interested in what is going on here. I have three kids under the age of 4 and I am babysitting a newborn 5 days a week. So essentially I have 4 under 4 and I am extremly encouraged by this show.
Christina () - October 20, 2005 - 01:03
This looks great! I hope it continues.
Laura () - January 5, 2006 - 14:54