Web2Go

Move over media moguls. It’s my turn! That’s how I felt when I first heard about podcasting.

This week Web2Go gives you the inside scoop on podcasting, what it is, who’s out there doing it and how you can get involved too.

If you squish the words ‘iPod’ and ‘broadcasting’ together you get a new word – podcasting. Technically speaking there are podcasts, which are created with music, sound effects and audio interviews and vod or vidcasts which include TV and video content. These days, the word podcasting seems to refer to all types of portable digital media files.

Podcasts are like your own free, portable radio or TV shows that can be downloaded to a computer or MP3 player. Unlike traditional media, which you have to watch or listen to in your lounge room at a specific time, you can carry a podcast around with you and listen to it or watch it when you’ve got a few spare minutes to yourself.

The biggest difference is, you don’t have to be a professional journalist working for a big TV or radio network to make a podcast (although many major media outlets like Australia’s ABC and the UK’s BBC have huge collections of free, commercially produced content.)

You’ll find podcasts on every conceivable topic from learning Spanish to Harry Potter and it seems more topics are being added by the minute. Podcast management website Feedburner for example, estimated in 2006 that it managed roughly 44,000 podcast feeds which, they report, “according to the CIA World Factbook, exceeds the total number of radio stations worldwide.”

You can create your own podcast using using open-source software such as the Audacity audio editor and you can share it with the world by uploading it to podcasting directories including Podcast Alley, Podcast Pickle,Odeo, PodOmatic, and PodcastDirectory.com.

You’ll also find thousands of podcasts at Apple’s iTunes Store but you’ll need to download and install iTunes on your computer first.

Podcasts are usually distributed using RSS feeds. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication.For a great explanation of RSS and how it works with podcasts and blogs check out Commoncraft’s ‘RSS in Plain English’ video.

If it’s disability-related content that you’re after, make your first stop the BBC’s Ouch Podcast. Although there are a lot of disability podcasts out there, you’ll often find the content is often highly specialized, patchy or a couple of years out of date. Be aware that the majority of disability podcast content is also either from the US or the UK.

A couple of other podcasts to check out are Disability411 (US),Disability Law Lowdown (US) and DisabilityNation (US).

We’d particularly love to hear from any podcasters in the Asia-Pacific region who are producing disability-related podcasts!

Next week … help is on the way! We begin a new series of posts to help you out of those technological sticky spots.