Podcasting: Making an Impression

Podcasting seems to be making a very big impression on the online community following the Battlestar Galactica's own commentary series that's currently online at www.scifi.com:

Podcasting puts you in charge of the show
By D. PARVAZSEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
Now that blogging (you know, basically putting your diary or rants/observations online) is, like, old, the rush is on to embrace the newest method of transmitting stuff into the world -- podcasting.
Early adapters may roll their eyes at this (so terribly 2004), but the fact that Tara Reid hasn't started her own podcast (or, dear Lord, has she?) may mean that trendwise, the wave has yet to crest.

So what the heck is podcasting? It sounds like it has something to do with aliens and fishing, but basically, it allows people to subscribe to audio programs, professional and otherwise. That is, instead of going online and listening to a show or a broadcast on your computer, you can program your computer, by using the right software, to regularly update and download certain programs. It'slike TiVo for your MP3 player.
What most people actually do is podcatching -- they're on the consumer end of the podcast, capturing the goods and storing them on their hard drives and MP3 players.
Once your computer has downloaded your preselected program, it'll automatically move the files in with your other MP3s. So, say you're using iTunes -- your aggregator software (the stuff that reads RSS -- "Real Simple Syndication" feeds, which identify new material online) will move your chosen programs or files into iTunes, where they'll wait until you sync up your iPod.
"My sense is that it will be around for quite some time, much in the same way that RSS has been around since 1998 and has exploded with the rise and preeminence of blogs," says Jack Beslanwitch, founder of Seattle HTML SIG, a group dedicated to keeping track of innovations in Web content. A freelance Web designer, Beslanwitch says the combined use of RSS, TiVo and hand-held MP3 players is "a no-brainer" -- it was bound to happened sooner or later.
What kind of stuff is out there and what can you create? An oral blog -- it's your life, in sound files, baby. You can put together a radio program -- ever wished they played more Mark Sandman on the radio, less Nelly Furtado? On RadioYou, they do.
Brian Ibbott podcasts his show (www.coverville.com) thrice weekly from his home in Arvada, Colo. As a kid, Ibbott, 35, dreamed of becoming a radio DJ, but thought he didn't have the voice for it.
So if Ibbott's show is for you, and you wished you could bundle him up and put him in your pocket for a rainy day, you can. With podcasting software, Ibbott voluntarily jumps into your MP3 player. Of course, podcasting isn't limited to music. For example, if you're a huge "Battlestar Galactica" geek, er, fan, you can download commentary by the show's producer and listen to it while you're watching the program on the Sci-Fi Channel. No, don't tell anyone else you do this.

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