old man yells at cloud
I'm Against Podcasts
21–30 of 300 posts
Re: I'm Against Podcasts
#22The difference between an edited and an un-edited conversation is night and day. Editing takes out all the stumbles, half-sentences, unfinished ideas etc.
The reason it's not more common? Recording a 2 hour podcast takes 2 hours. Recording and editing a 2 hour podcast takes closer to 10.
Re: I'm Against Podcasts
#23> Podcasts are bad because podcasts sound bad — and podcasts sound bad because podcasters aren’t thinking hard enough about what their talk sounds like. But this is exactly why we should cherish podcasts! They're one of the last vestiges of the old, weird, free Internet that we have left. Podcasts (mostly) sound bad because the people making them are (mostly) amateurs, which means they don't know the ins and outs of…
Hell, I can deal with shitty microphones, I just wish people would figure out that you need to record all speakers' audio independently and not rely on Skype or Discord or whatever relaying it to a single location. Robovoice is the worst.
Re: I'm Against Podcasts
#24I think this whole piece is a pretty bizarre exercise. > I consider [podcasts] an enemy of music. [...] With all of the world’s unheard songs beckoning us with their endless mystery, why would anyone choose to waste their precious listening hours on a podcast? This isn't just comparing apples and oranges, it's arguing that apples are the enemy of oranges. "With so many delicious oranges uneaten, why should anyone was…
The commenters over there are falling into the same trap hard. So many variations of "Why would I listen to this when I could just read the information quicker?" Who are these people who cannot fathom that people may want to listen to something mildly informative while they are otherwise unable to focus on reading? Or just have an easier time absorbing information audibly rather than visually? Or even that someone would listen to something because hearing another human voice provides a value beyond pure information?
Really though, I just wonder how valuable these people think their time really is? I assume their "I need to be absorbing optimal information at all times" shtick is supposed to come across as smart, but it just comes across as a little slow.
Re: I'm Against Podcasts
#25Podcasts are talk radio on demand. If you're against podcasts, you're against talk radio. Or at the very least, you're against making talk radio more convenient and accessible.
I feel like podcasts are similar to, but not exactly the same as, talk radio. Most talk radio formats are built around listeners calling in, for instance, which can provide a degree of spontaneity that isn't possible in a prerecorded format like a podcast. (Which gives me an excuse to link to the classic Mr. Show sketch, "Pre-Taped Call-In Show": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhVbLJvYP8s ) That being said, I do thi…
I always hated it when listeners called in on talk radio. They very rarely had anything insightful to day, and even if they did, they general weren't able to convey it clearly.
Re: I'm Against Podcasts
#26This was the best quote of the article for me:
Forget the lousy microphones and the dinky interstitial stock music — the thing that derails most podcasts is the blab. There are two kinds, more or less. The first is that soft, inquisitive staccato popularized by Ira Glass on “This American Life,” the source from which so much pod-voice appears to have sprung.
The ubiquitous NPR Voice/Sound is really what turns me off from podcasts/audiobooks/etc. While I love NPR, their sound is absolutely grating to listen to. Too HD, rife with extremely loud and detailed plosives and sibilants. I don't want to listen to the speaker suck the spit back down their throats in excruciating detail after every sentence.
NPR's sound quality is too detailed. It's like if you watched a video of someone talking and could see the aftermath of a popped zit smack in the middle of your screen.
Re: I'm Against Podcasts
#27>Why does an experience so inherently intimate feel so alienating to me? Because you're an obsessive extravert who's unable to enjoy a conversation you're not part of. >so instead of treating podcasts as a convenient way to feel smarter Author says that and then proceeds to do that the whole article. Every single podcast he tried was some hoity-toity artsy interview cast. I listen to podcasts to be entertained. I lis…
Douchecanoe. You nailed it. Nothing like a pointless rant that tries to pin your extremely personal experience on the masses. Thanks WP.
Re: I'm Against Podcasts
#28I'm always surprised at the popularity of podcasts vs audiobooks. Seems podcasts have made the jump to "gen pop" but audiobooks, despite the increasing popularity of audible, still tend to be niche.
I'm biased because I'm an audiobook hound, but I'd take an audiobook over a podcast any day. Far superior production quality, better content, a beginning, middle and an end, professional narrators, researched analysis and not just random people spouting off opinions.
Re: I'm Against Podcasts
#29That was a funny rant
Re: I'm Against Podcasts
#30It’s weird that this article is upvoted but every commenter agrees that it’s worthless. Every point he makes falls flat, and it feels like pointless contrarianism. It’s fine if you don’t like podcasts, guy.