Podcasting what is it you may ask? Well it does not have to do with an ipod and fishing (bad joke I know). Although it can use an ipod, it does not have to, as common perception may think.

So what is a podcast? Well the definition of podcast is a multimedia file distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds, for playback on mobile devices and personal computers. If this doesn’t mean anything to you then let’s clear this up. A podcast can either be any media but mostly audio, Video or photos sent over the internet and download automatically using things called syndication feeds which I will talk about later so that you can listen to it on a computer, mp3 player or other portable device ( does not have to be ipod as the name suggests).Also the name podcast was invented by Adam curry and is now an accepted word in the dictionary.


But what makes a podcast different from downloading music? This has to do with syndication feeds. Now syndication feeds are best described as a live summary of what is on a website that is constantly updated so you can see what new articles have been added or the highlights and click on them so as you don’t have to visit the home page the click on a link. These are usual kept in the panel of your web browser. This is encompasses something called RSS (Really Simple Syndication) that when you get a podcast you as it says subscribe to it so that once the media is uploaded to the web it is noticed by your RSS and is downloaded. So what makes Podcasting different is that it is automatically downloaded much like Microsoft updates but you are not prompted to downloaded it just happens for you. Also the logo below was invented by Mozilla Firefox and is now used by Internet Explorer and Opera.



How do I get podcast? The most easy and obvious way to get podcast is subscribing on the itunes store. Although popular to common opinion this is not the only way as well as you not needing an ipod you can download them from such places as Google, Podnova, Yahoo! podcasts or Odeo.

Podcasting is great media because it reaches the whole world not just one city. Plus they are all free.

Nick W