Standing in the Field
Notes from SJS Application Server Field Engineering
Standing in the Field
Notes from SJS Application Server Field Engineering
I had a half finished post on podcasting drafted on MarsEdit (which I've been using to post since Roller 1.0 went live). But I wanted to finish my second post on Java annotations before I spent any time posting about iPods. But now Tim Bray has posted an excellent article on podcasting and I have to put in my two cents.
I admit to playing around with podcasts recently. Gio had been talking about them a month ago, some of the topics on IT conversations had been really interesting, and NetNewsWire added it as a feature in its 2.0 beta. Which made downloading podcasts pretty much point and click. So with all of this, you'd think I'd be a big podcast fan. I have a Mac. I have an iPod. I'm usually up for the latest new gizmo.
But as both Adam Curry and Tim point out, you can't really be listening to a podcast while you do anything else mentally engaging. Unlike music, podcasts really don't function too well as "background sound". So, for me, that limits listening to podcasts to plane and train rides. And when I do have dedicated "iPod time", I'm not sure I want to use that precious downtime listening to an amateur audio show.
Plus, like Tim, I have a bias towards text. You can read at your own pace depending on your interest and mood. You can skip around an article, skimming past stuff you aren't interested in reading. You can search it and index it for keywords. Plain text is just efficient and versatile.
But podcasting is still interesting to me as a phenomenon, even if I'm not going to be an early adopter. Because it's amazing how easy that podcasting makes audio production. Back in 1975 creating an amateur newsletter or brochure required expensive equipment and produced poor results. (Remember mimeographs?) Home production of audio or video wasn't really feasible at all except for rudimentary Super8 splicing. The desktop computer revolution has changed that. In 2005 a low end home computer, with moderately priced software, is easily capable of doing semi-professional print or audio production. And a mid range computer is capable of doing basic video production.
Amateurs are publishing blogs that are taken just as seriously as professional productions. To the point where the line between amateur and professional is very blurry.
Film students are creating films that are reaching professional quality with budgets under $100,000.
Mac Geeks are creating their own iPod ads that are arguably more professional looking than the real thing.
And now we are seeing the emergence of the semi-pro home audio production studio. I found this description of a semi-pro audio production studio fascinating.
I'm not the first to have noticed this phenomenon. It's been called the "prosumer" trend. (Consumers that are also producers of content. Apparently the term was coined by Alvin Toffler in 1980.) But with the rise of blogging and podcasting in 2004 it really makes me wonder what the media will be like in 2020. What will the next generation be able to create when they grow up with iMovie, Garage Band, iPodder, and TypePad? And what will the home studio be capable of producing when everyone has a desktop Hero server?
I can't say for sure, but it will be nice having a few episodes of IT conversations saved up on my iPod for my next flight.
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