I’ve been following all the energy and excitement around the notion of podcasting with a certain amount of skepticism. This certainly explains why I haven’t yet been a consumer and am not likely to be. I generally don’t spend a lot of extended time in cars and I don’t find listening to be as high-bandwidth a channel as reading. I do travel by air a lot, but I generally use that time to read, not listen.
I’ll grant that there are a lot of busy people who do find themselves behind the wheel and would definitely prefer something intelligent to the usual fare on the radio. It may be that podcasting might be relevant to me as a potential producer of content rather than as a consumer. So, I’m continuing to pay attention, but it’s likely to remain lower on my list than making sure I make more time to post some old-fashioned text to my blog.
If you want to understand podcasting, get an iPod, get the software, subscribe to some feeds. Then go for a drive, ride a subway or an airplane, take a walk, do something away from the computer and take the iPod with you. Listen to one of the new programs. Then let me know if it works. Fact is, you can’t use your eyes when you’re driving, they’re busy. Same with walking. It’s pretty hard to type on a subway. Annotation, if it’s going to happen, will be in voice, and implemented in the iPod. It’s easy to see if you just use it. Use it. Use it. Nike says just do it. The iPod commands: Use it. [Scripting News]