January 30, 2008
3 Cheers for Podomatic
There are times when we run into technical problems relating to our products interfacing with those of another company. Often a subtle form of fingerpointing or passing the buck occurs. So it was delightful to work with Podomatic, a popular free Podcast hosting service, today to fix a problem with Replay A/V accessing their Podcasts. With one call, I was able to locate the lead engineer, and in a few minutes we were able to access their entire library of Podcasts again. Yippee!.
Podomatic has a pretty cool service - you can start your own Podcast with just a PC, a microphone, and an internet connection. Just go to their site, speak your Podcast, and it's uploaded and added to their directory. And it's free. Pretty awesome.
Thanks again Justin!
Posted by Bill Dettering at 06:34 PM | Permalink | Technorati Tags: podcasting podomatic | Comments (0)
December 15, 2005
iPodder.org Podcast directory breakdown
It seems the all-volunteer iPodder Podcast directory is in danger of falling apart. And Adam Curry is nowhere to be found.
Read this post from one of the directory "node managers".
It's not surprising Curry has abandoned it, especially since Podshow bought Podcast Alley. They saw it coming.
Posted by Bill Dettering at 02:34 PM | Permalink | Technorati Tags: podcasting adam curry ipod | Comments (1)
November 19, 2005
Podcast and Portable Media Expo
Well, we exhibited at the Podcast and Portable Media Expo last week, and I thought it might be interesting to give a brief rundown of the show, given it was the first ever such event. The highlights:
- With the exception of "Keith and the Girl" (who were really cool) and Michael Butler (Rock 'n Roll Geek), we didn't see any other major Podcasters cruising the show floor. Dawn 'n Drew made an appearance, but were more acting like celebrities than geeks.
- Adam Curry wasn't seen. Apparently he was doing his own show across the street at the Marriott.
- Dave Winer was a no-show.
- A lot of people interested in becoming Podcasters were there.
- There was actually a decent number of people, especially Friday.
- No WiFi in the exhibit area -- kind of a bummer, considering the techie orientation of the audience.
When we first signed up for the show 6 months ago, the Podcasting landscape was certainly different, especially without Apple or Yahoo in the mix. Nevertheless, it was a good show, and we should land some deals that will make it well worth our participation.
Next year??? We'll just have to see...
Posted by Bill Dettering at 11:23 PM | Permalink | Technorati Tags: podcasting expo podcasters portable_media | Comments (0)
October 19, 2005
10,000 Podcasts
Today we reached the 10,000 Podcast milestone in the Replay Media Guide! Any Replay Radio customer can access these.
These are fully verified Podcasts, mind you, and not ones that may have once been produced but are no longer available.
On another Podcasting note, We'll be exhibiting at the Podcast Expo on Ontario, CA in early November, so come by our booth and meet us!
Posted by Bill Dettering at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Technorati Tags: podcast podcasting | Comments (0)
September 28, 2005
Podcast Alley and Podshow
I noticed recently that Podcast Alley, the most popular directory of Podcasts, was purchased by PodShow, Adam Curry's company. Here's my opinion why:
The iPodder.org directory was staffed entirely by volunteers. While the architecture was ingenious -- creating a huge outline and assigning various nodes to authors, and using OPML to drive it -- manning a business class directory with volunteers simply ain't gonna cut it.
When we built our Podcast Directory, I looked at the iPodder directory, and noticed many of the nodes had gone stale for two weeks or more. That's why we decided to do our own.
Should be interesting to see how Podcast Alley changes. My peeve with Podcast Alley was with how advertising worked -- the rates were structured that your per-click cost went up as your clickthough rate increased. This had the effect of penalizing advertisers who make effective ads. No one in their right mind would advertise under such a circumstance.
I'll be watching the new Podcast Alley...
Posted by Bill Dettering at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Technorati Tags: podshow podcasting | Comments (0)
August 23, 2005
Music Loops for Screencasts and Podcasts
If you are looking to add background music to your screencasts or Podcast, check out J Wynia's links.
Posted by Bill Dettering at 06:38 PM | Permalink | Technorati Tags: screencasting podcasting video screencast podcast | Comments (0)
Podcast Guide Milestones
Our Replay Media Guide has just reached over 7000 Podcasts and nearly 110,000 episodes. (This is the guide that's also used by Replay Radio in both the paid program and the free Podcast edition.)
And unlike some other iGuides from Cupertino, all of our Podcasts are verified to have real, listenable MP3 enclosures.
When we started this back in April, we had 2400 Podcasts. This is some pretty amazing growth.
Posted by Bill Dettering at 05:28 PM | Permalink | Technorati Tags: podcasting guide mp3 itunes podcasters | Comments (0)
August 09, 2005
AudioFeast goes down
Looks like Podcasting has killed at least one company - AudioFeast - a $10M funded startup selling a subscription audio service. It appears they burned through that money since December 2004, no small feat. Now it looks to be a Podcasting site. Bummer.
Content is king, and the big media content owners know this. When I was full into Mazingo (a company delivering audio and video to PDAs), we were all shocked at the onerous licensing terms from companies like CNN and WSJ, just to name a few. The theory was that we were offering a new distribution channel that wouldn't cannibalize existing channels, and we wanted to do no-money-up-front rev share agreements. The only deals to be had for the name brand content were guaranteed minimums. Needless to say, Mazingo didn't make it.
Posted by Bill Dettering at 11:42 PM | Permalink | Technorati Tags: media audio mp3 podcasting | Comments (0)
August 06, 2005
The Podcast Anthem
This is awesome. Debbie turned me on to this song "On a Podcast".
Enjoy!
Posted by Bill Dettering at 01:26 PM | Permalink | Technorati Tags: podcasting podcast mp3 music | Comments (1)
August 05, 2005
What's the Ideal Podcasting Device?
As a long time iPod user, I was recently given a cool Flash-based MP3 Player from Digital Mind, which I'm now using for Podcasts. It's changed my thinking a bit.
It's small, easy to transfer files onto, and has great sound. It's a lot more convenient than an iPod to carry around, and it has a UI, unlike the Shuffle. And it's under $100.
I'm thinking this sort of device may be the best Podcast listening device, if all you're doing is listening to Podcasts.
I'm interested to hear comments from you about what you're looking for in a dedicated Podcast device. Am I on target? Crazy?
Let me know...
Posted by Bill Dettering at 03:58 PM | Permalink | Technorati Tags: podcasting mp3 player flash device ipod podcatcher | Comments (3)
July 11, 2005
Another Podcaster dissatisfied with Apple/iTunes
Jake McKee's Blog articulates nicely the "screw you" approach Apple is taking towards amateur Podcasters. OK -- maybe that's to harsh, but it appears like they don't care, don't really understand Podcasting, or they are in it over their heads.
Snippet:
Since the launch 14 days ago (yes, two weeks!), there have been a number of significant issues come up that Apple has yet to address, or give any sort of feedback on whatsoever. None. Nada.
Since I first released Replay Radio in 2001, I've always thought that downloading radio shows was the way to go. And now that a community and a standard for delivering them has popped up, I'm really excited about Podcasting, and I believe it will really change the medium of Radio forever.
It appears Apple is excited about Podcasting, too, but only because it will help them sell even more iPods.
Posted by Bill Dettering at 09:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
July 10, 2005
How iTunes 4.9 got it wrong
Another interesting article from Corante.com on iTunes 4.9 and how they are (mis)managing Podcasting.
Like I said before -- Apple is the AOL of Podcasting.
Posted by Bill Dettering at 11:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
July 03, 2005
iTunes overwhelming Podcast servers?
Check out this post from Geek News Central.
Can anyone say "BitTorrent"? Can Apple?
Posted by Bill Dettering at 10:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
July 02, 2005
Apple screws amateur Podcasters
First off, many amateur Podcasters were a little miffed that Apple did a lot of work to promote the "corporate" content, but gave very little attention to the grassroots Podcasters.
Now, DailySonic has proof the Apple is caching Podcasts. Why is this a big deal? DailySonic needs to accurately count downloads to support its advertisers. And they also do some dynamic ad insertion. If they don't have control over their feed, then their advertising model breaks.
I can see the Apple developers saying "what if the independent site is down", and doing the extra engineering to ensure reliable service. But for Podcasters who are trying to make a living doing this, it totally screws them over. Unfortunately, Apple doesn't validate their feeds, so the argument doesn't really hold water.
Supporting the grassroots is one of our basic philosophies. We're working on ways to support the "little guy" who promotes Replay Radio as the best way to subscribe and download Podcasts. We have an affiliate program already in place, and another awesome program is coming soon.
Posted by Bill Dettering at 11:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 28, 2005
iTunes 4.9 with Podcasting - "Wayne's World Programming"
OK - so I'm surfing tonight and decide to see if the new iTunes with Podcast support is available - and voila - it is! I downloaded it just now, and here's my stream-of-consciousness experience:
I click the Podcast button. I see an empty list of Podcasts. I click Podcast directory. The Music Store opens. Where's the Podcast button? I have to click AudioBooks to find it. Not a great start.
Found categories, and search. So... any checking for dead Podcasts? I search for my favorite dead show, the Miller Report, and it's found! However, I'm not able to play any of the episodes listed, and it tells me so. Which is what I expect. Our Replay Media Guide checks all Podcasts daily to be sure they are working, and delists those that fail to have a valid MP3 file.
(Keep in mind this is a somewhat biased review, as I've spent a lot of time personally creating our Podcast client and guide.)
Search just looks for titles (descriptions) and authors. No show notes. We've done better with our guide. Also, substring searches don't work. Try searching for "urry".
Oh yeah - the presentation is really nice. Apple always does a nice job with this.
Show notes display is a little kludgy - lots of blank space in Daily Source Code.
Episode download works well.
Can't play an episode without downloading it. Major bummer. Most people listen from the Web.
OK - so I'm now exploring categories. I go to Technology, Podcasting. A bunch of Podcasts appear. I click Podcast 411. It starts playing the show from Dec. 31, 2004. What???? Maybe this is where the promo is supposed to go. It's the last entry in the RSS feed.
How about BitTorrent support??? I can see the RIAA raising a shitstorm with Apple if they include BitTorrent. Let's go try to download AirAmerica's Al Franken, which is BT. Tried Evil Genius, too. Can't do it. Not surprising.
I click the dang Podcast Directory button, and it brings me to the Music Store, with no link for Posdcasts. Annoying.
The category browser is weird - the column heading for Artist is actually a Podcast category.
There's no single click to a Home page for Podcasts. You always have to go through the Music store. It's like being in a hotel/casino, where you always have to go through the casino to get to your room. Also annoying.
OK - this is where it gets really bad. How the heck do you find these Podcasts on your iPod when you download them? Daily Source Code has a Genre of "Music". Huh? How am I supposed to set up a smart playlist for my Podcasts? Replay Radio automatically retags the genre as "replay radio" so they are easy to organize.
(Update: The Podcasts sync to a built-in Playlist called "Podcasts". I guess you just have to know this. On the plus side, the titles in the "Podcasts" playlist come out nice. On the minus side, there's no way to further manage these (like filtering if PlayCount=0 for unheard Podcasts.)
Looked at the preferences for Podcasts. Pretty basic. Replay Radio has more options.
Also - the directory isn't totally complete. Our 2 minute infomercial Podcast for Replay Music is nowhere to be found. Maybe there's some sort of editorial discretion going on.
OK - that's a pretty thorough run-through. I've seen enough. It's "Waynes World Programming".
I feel better about what we're doing now that the unknown is known. Quality tools for subscribing and listening will attract users. Apple's implementation is half-hearted, for sure. It's kinda like AOL. Replay Radio
and the Replay Media Guide is like the entire internet. People will start with iTunes, then wonder if there's something else out there, and hopefully they will find us.
(Plus, we can record radio broadcasts too. Apple can't/won't touch that!)
Posted by Bill Dettering at 02:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
June 23, 2005
More on iTunes 4.9
Great insight our dedicated user Stu:
iTunes 4.9, will be released at the end of next week about a month ahead of schedule according to the spy sites. It looks, to me, like Apple wants to put together its own XM Radio using podcasts. Perhaps, that's one of the reasons they've been so resistant to an XM/ipod product. On the other hand, the XM2Go is truly a piece of junk - technologically flawed.Looks to me like their trying to corner the content while podcasting is flying under the radar. I did a fellowship at my local PBS station a number of years ago working on digital rights issues. They realized all those great PBS documentaries hadn't anticipated the digital world and the original producers had retained the digital rights. It was quite a mess. In part, that allowed for the rise of the Discovery Channel. Obtaining content is the key.
Posted by Bill Dettering at 04:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
SF Podcasters Meetup
Just returned from my first Podscasters meetup. Pretty interesting. Some takeaways:
1) A lot of people are just getting into it. And they all complain that it's way to hard to make a Podcast.
2) Two people with companies trying to make Podcast advertising easier attended: Kiptronics and CastFire. Interesting stuff - check out their sites.
3) 75% of Podcast listens come from the Web. This is one of the reasons it is really hard to make metrics for advertisers.
I gave my schpiel (is that how it's spelled?) on the innovative things we're doing with our Replay Radio Podcatcher and Replay Media Guide, and how every Podcaster should sign up for our affiliate program and promote Replay Radio from their Podcast and Web site as an easy way to make some extra money.
Definitely worth going to - I'll be back!
Posted by Bill Dettering at 12:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Odeo Beta
Just tried the Odeo beta tonight. Here's my take:
1) I couldn't get it to work. Seems like the Syncr couldn't connect. Server issues perhaps? I checked the firewall. Not a good first impression, but heck - it's a beta.
2) The program description says it's based "upon iPodder". I also saw a lot of Python stuff in the install.
3) Interface is simple. Layout is pleasing.
4) User-generated tags are interesting, but it appears that there is no editorial control. I was able to add a nonsensical tag to one Podcast.
5) Playing individual shows from the Browser has no controls. No way to fast forward.
6) Rating system is weak.
Overall, our Replay Media Guide is still better in my opinion. But they do have some nice features.
Posted by Bill Dettering at 12:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 20, 2005
iTunes Podcasting goes corporate
What ARE Apple's iTunes Podcasting plans? Here's some insight from Apple Insider:
http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1140
The questions remain:
1) What will they do about all those Mashups out there? Their Music partners will likely cut off some of the premium music content if the issue isn't resolved to their satisfaction.
2) What about some of the "edgy" stuff? What will corporate do?
We plan on offering everything, and along with our ability to allow people to record radio shows, we'll be able to compete with Apple and surpass what they do.
Posted by Bill Dettering at 02:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)