Specialized Computing Blog

Perhaps you’ve heard about blogs – the hottest communication story of last year. Commentators from Newsweek to the Wall Street Journal, from CNN to PBS have devoted time to the phenomenon. Blogs are just one of the new technologies that are changing the way politicians communicate with voters and businesses communicate with customers.

For marketers, these changes mean more direct interaction with customers and potential customers. By speaking and listening directly with the customer marketers are able to reduce the expense for public relations and advertising. Of course, these developments are worrying some in the pr and advertising industries, as well as the news media.

Many things about marketing communication won’t change, of course: you still need to have something to say. And the best way to apply all these technologies is still within a business niche. With that said, here are some of the other ways communication is changing:

1. Podcasting is the hottest idea on the internet. Starting in 2004, people began downloading homebrewed radio shows to their iPods. So instead of “broadcasts” they’re “podcasts”. Unlike streaming audio, podcasts require the file to be downloaded. The advantage of podcasts versus streaming is that you can take it with you when you’re not on the net. The disadvantage is that streaming audio is much easier for a customer to play at his or her computer. The solution is to do both – create an audio file for streaming, and an mp3 for podcasting. The same recording can be used for both.

2. A vlog is a video blog. Unlike podcasting, vlogging can refer to either streaming video or downloadable shows. Combined with the rapid development of internet video delivery, vlogging seems poised to take off. As with audio, you can prepare your video file in both streaming and downloadable formats. Also like audio, you can begin with very low-cost tools and work your way up to full blown professional equipment. Remember that people like good production quality, but they like watching something interesting even more.

3. Wikis are websites that are editable by the site users. Content becomes part of a dialogue among the users, instead of something fixed. This interaction can build strong communities, and produce large sites with enormous information. Up until recently, wikis have been difficult to use, and limited to techs. New approaches to wikis are making them easier to use, and reinforcing the next trend:

4. Social software. Community sites that encourage sharing and conversation are springing up in many areas. Photography and music have been drivers of this trend, in addition to political activism. Interaction builds community, and community is where the market is.

5. Almost all of these tools involve RSS, a technology for feeding information to people who want it. Unlike email, which is “pushed” by the sender, rss feeds have to be “pulled” by the user. While still not completely mainstream, rss is a rapidly growing delivery system.

For the small marketer, the price of reaching customers directly has dropped. Large corporations, though, are picking up on these technologies rapidly. To truly gain an edge, the small business person needs to develop a strategy for these channels before the big companies figure them out.

According to one dictionary, podcasting is “the web-based broadcast which works with software that automatically detects new files and is accessed by subscription.”

There are two explanations of the etymology of the word, “podcasting.” One explanation is that it is a combination of the words “iPod” and “broadcasting,” because early listeners generally downloaded audio broadcasts to their Apple iPod devices. The other explanation is that the root of the word comes from the acronym for “personal on demand,” which would be pod. Personal on demand broadcasting becomes podcasting.

Podcasting began as a means to distribute music files, but soon website owners realized that podcasting the spoken word was an important way to increase the amount of useful content on their website. For example, all of the major news agencies that distribute countless pages of written information now also offer their subscribers portable audio content as well.

Podcasting is produced from two separate actions. The first action is to design, create, and record an audio show that is to be broadcast later. An audio file is created and is made available on the podcaster’s website in order for listeners to download the file directly to their listening device or to listen to the file as it streams from the website. Additionally, the smart podcaster will make the audio file available through a subscription-based feed. The subscription is generally free, but some podcasters charge a small fee for the subscription. The web feed stores the audio file so that a listener can have access to the file at any time they choose.

The second action is for the listener to periodically check for new content from their favorite shows. The listener can either search for new content or download it to their digital audio device or they can enlist the help of a podcatcher or feedreader. The feedreader will search for new content from the listener’s favorite shows and notify the listener when new content is available. The obvious advantage to this system is that the listeners will receive new content without ever having to search for it themselves.

Audio podcasting is an important way for a website owner to distribute their content to their audience. Many people would rather listen to audio content than to read the same content. With the use of portable audio devices, the website content can be enjoyed at a time and place that is convenient to the listener. The website owner will be able to increase the amount of visitors to their website by being able to offer podcasts as an additional source of information.

Podcasting is a way to distribute and share media files over the Internet. But how do you create one? This article will tell you how to make your own podcast.

The first thing you need is a domain name. This will provide your subscribers the location where they can get your media files. Try to select a name that is easy to remember and tells the type of podcast you are publishing. Register your domain name through a domain registrar, such as eNom and GoDaddy.

The next one that you will need is a web host. Again, there are several companies that you can go to, like Host Gator and StartLogic. When looking for a web host, be sure to consider getting a big disk space since you will be storing a large amount of media files. For example, a 2-minute mp3 file may be 2 MB in size. Many web hosting companies offer several GB in disk space at very low monthly fees. Aside from the disk space, also consider the amount of bandwidth the company is offering. This is the amount of data that can be transferred to and from your host every month. Since you will have large data files, having just a few subscribers can use up all your bandwidth in a matter of days. 10 – 100 GB of bandwidth may be enough, but be sure to increase this once you get a lot of subscribers.

Once you have selected your web hosting company, you will be given name servers, which you will later apply to your domain name. To complete the setup of your site, you input the name servers into the site where you have registered your domain name. Now, your site can be found on the Internet.

After completing your site setup, search the Internet and download a program called dircaster.php. Configure this program to reflect the details of your domain. Then, upload this program to your site.

Next step is to record the media file, called an episode, that you will podcast. One software that you can use is Audacity, from audacity.sourceforge.net. This is a free, open source software to record and edit sounds. Record your episode from a microphone, a CD, the computer’s sound card, or even a VOIP conversation. Edit the file, such as mixing tracks (voice and music), cut segments, or add segments. You also should be adding tags and descriptions on your episode.

Upload this media file in the same directory as the dircaster.php. The dircaster will then generate a RSS feed telling your subscribers about the new file that they can download.

Creating a podcast is simple and cheap. The software needed are free and downloadable in the Internet. If you have something to share, podcasting is a great way to provide your information to the Internet.

How have you been using the Internet? Isn’t it that you go there to get information? You have to visit different sites in order to get the data you want. What if data comes to you, without the need to visit the site that provides it? That will save you a lot of time surfing the ‘Net.

Now, with podcasting, the scenario where you receive the data directly from the originator, rather than visit his site to get the data, is now possible.

So, what is a podcast? Think of the word “broadcast”. What does it remind you of? What do you picture? Perhaps, you see someone listening to the news on a radio. Or you might see someone watching a baseball game on TV. You may even see a PC on a network transmitting packets for all other networks to receive. So, broadcasting is the process of sending out information to an audience. These audiences, with the right equipment, will be able to receive and decode the signals being transmitted. There is one source and, normally, has many recipients, although there may be one or no one to receive the information.

Similarly, with podcasting, digital, machine readable files are being sent out from a server to people who subscribe to them. Although it is a form of file-sharing over the Internet (like direct downloading or streaming), podcasting is distinguished by its ability to be syndicated, subscribed to, and downloaded automatically when there are new data added. This is done using an aggregator or feed reader, such as RSS or Atom, that can read feed formats. Subscribers have a podcatching client, a software that makes full use of the features of the podcasts’ syndication. Examples of these podcatching clients are Apple’s iTunes, Microsoft’s Zune Marketplace, Juice, and Podget.

Programs, or episodes, received from podcasters can be played on the computer or transferred to a portable media player, such as the iPod. In fact, the word “podcast” is a combination of the words “iPod” and “broadcast”, the iPod being the first portable device in which the first podcasting applications were developed.

Initially, podcasting was used to send radio-style shows. Podcasters now become DJs and stars of their own radio and TV shows. With the low cost in producing and distributing these shows, people now have a venue to showcase their talents, reaching audiences that would not have been possible before. Later, podcasting was used by established companies, such as NPR and CNN, to distribute their contents to end users. Further uses of podcasting include the distribution of school lessons, conference meeting alerts and updates, and even public safety messages by the police department.

Although podcasting connotes the sharing of media files, it may later have other uses, such as providing software updates and product evaluation programs. In any case, the use of the Internet will drastically change with podcasting.