|
The podcast is also referred to as a non-streamed webcast. It is a series of video/audio digital media files which are released as episodes and can be downloaded via web syndication. This word Podcast usurped the common vernacular word webcast because of the rising popularity of the iPod and the new innovation web feeds.
It is the delivery mode of podcasting that differentiates it from other means of accessing media files on the internet like a direct download or streamed webcasting. A complete list of all video and audio files associated with a particular series is maintained at a central place on the distributor's server as web feeds. The listener or viewer uses specific client application software known as pod catchers which can access this web feed, verify any updates and download the new files in the series. The whole process can be automated so that new files may be downloaded easily. These files are maintained locally on a user's computer or other device which is ready for offline usage. This gives simple and easy access to the episodic content. The most commonly used audio file formats include MP3 and Ogg Vorbis.
Some of the academics at Community, Journalism and Communication Research group in University of Texas in US are building a 4 point definition of a podcast which is: The podcast is a digital video or audio file which is episodic, program-driven mainly using a host or/and a theme, downloadable and convenient normally through an automated feed with software.
Name and History
This term podcasting was mentioned in The Guardian newspaper for the first time in an article in one of the February 2004 issues. It was proposed with other names for the new medium. Podcasting is a combination of two words: "pod" arriving from Apple's portable media player - iPod and "broadcasting". This name however may be misleading, as really it is not necessary to use iPods or any other type of portable media players for using podcasts. The actual content may be accessed using any computer which plays media files. Using the term podcast indicates the addition of native support for podcasting to iPod or iTunes software. Some people use the term "net cast" to avoid using a suggestive term of "iPod". A backronym has been used where the podcast stands for "Personal On Demand broadCAST".
Podcasting started being popular with people in 2004 although in the dot com era podcasts were done by some major companies like ESPN and Real Networks. Lots of people and organizations contributed to the development and popularity of podcasts such as Adam Curry who came up with the idea of automating the delivery and also syncing the text content to the portable audio players. The first application that made the process possible was iPodderX. It was developed by Ray Slakinski and August Trometer. The audio podcasts today are doing what was historically done by radio broadcasting stations.
Apple released the related software iTunes 4.9 in 2005 which had native support for podcasts. Receiving podcasts became easy because of this. However the development of podcasts by individual developers effectively stopped.
|
