Podcasts

Podcasts can be thought of as online radio programs without the constraints of specific air times or channels. Ultimately, a podcast is a series of downloadable audio or video files that can be consumed anytime and anywhere. In fact, “podcast” is a portmanteau word combining “iPod” and “broadcast”. There are myriad podcasts covering almost every topic imaginable, from news and comedy to home improvement, literature, and music. Increasingly, podcasting is being used in education to disseminate information, both to the lay public in the case of popular science and technology podcasts and to specific audiences in the case of classroom and topical podcasts.

Podcast files can be downloaded using a “podcatcher”, or software that continuously checks for new podcast episodes and delivers them to the user via RSS (Really Simple Syndication), a very common internet tool used to monitor website updates. The most well-known among these is iTunes (http://apple.com/itunes/; Windows or Mac), which allows users to subscribe to shows and also features an extensive, searchable podcast directory that is categorized by genre. iTunes makes this process simple and automated, but users can also download and listen to podcasts simply by manually navigating to a podcast’s home website where the files are directly accessible.

Structure of a podcast and podcast editing/syndication tools

A podcast in its purest sense is a series of audio or video files that are posted on the internet for others to access. There are many tools available to content creators to produce and polish these files, and many of them are even free. Among these are Apple Garageband (http://apple.com/ilife/garageband/; Mac only) and Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/; Windows or Mac). These applications allow a content creator to record or import audio, easily edit it (i.e. adjust volume levels, cut out or rearrange snippets, and add music overlays or jingles), and export it as a fancy audio masterpiece, usually in mp3 format.

Frequently, podcasts are displayed as websites with accompanying show notes (details about episode contents, or links to information mentioned in the show) and are given RSS feeds so that users can easily subscribe to them. There are many services that have these features built in, so distributing podcasts is actually quite painless. Many also bundle into the files themselves IP3 tags, which are short sections of standard embedded code that allow podcatchers to better categorize and display the podcast programs. (Dealing with these manually is a huge pain, so having it built in is a big plus.) As with downloading podcasts, iTunes is by far the most common way for podcasters to distribute podcasts. Submitting a podcast to iTunes is as simple as filling out a form to tell listeners about the show, giving a link to the podcast’s RSS feed, and waiting a few days for iTunes to approve it and begin listing it in its directory.

Apple generally has excellent resources for learning about more advanced features of and tips for podcasting. The basic FAQs For Podcast Makers (http://apple.com/itunes/podcasts/creatorfaq.html/) and the more technical and comprehensive Making a Podcast (http://apple.com/itunes/podcasts/specs.html/) pages are outstanding.

Costs

The minimum requirements for creating and distributing a podcast are a microphone and an internet-accessible computer. Because most people have both of these already (most newer computer models have microphones built in), the cost of starting a podcast need not be prohibitive, and in many cases, it’s completely free. Of course, most of the expense of podcasting depends on how professional the podcast needs to sound, how much content is produced, and how frequently it is downloaded. Fancy microphones and studio mixers are commonly used by serious podcasters to improve their sound quality, and dedicated podcast hosting companies and upgrades to bandwidth and traffic limits are good for podcasts with large followings.

Basic, infrequently-updated podcasts with small audiences can range from $0 to $50 at the outset and nothing more. More serious podcasts with daily or weekly episodes and larger followings might require several hundred dollars in startup costs (for microphones, mixing boards, editing software, and other recording equipment) and $5–$100 per month to store the files on the internet. There clearly is a large range of costs, and these will vary depending on a podcaster’s ultimate goals.