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Podcasting is getting huge

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Re: Podcasting is getting huge

#61

Post by Disruptive_Dave »

ekianjo wrote: post #47
Disruptive_Dave wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Classifying an entire medium as "low quality content" is pretty damn shortsighted. You do know that listeners get to choose what podcasts they press "play" on, right?

It's not short-sighted once you consider the large mass of podcasts is composed of people recording themselves speaking without any prior script. Of course it's going to be low density and low quality, just like a chat with friends. There are exceptions like Serial, but that's what they are: exceptions.

Out of curiosity, can you list me a few of these low quality podcasts? I started getting into them heavily about 10 months ago and I'd label the ones I subscribe to as very high quality. I don't personally equate "unscripted content" with automatically low quality, though. Some high quality podcasts I love right now: Joe Rogan Experience, Here's The Thing (Alec Baldwin), Dan Carlin's Hardcore History.

Re: Podcasting is getting huge

#62

Post by dagw »

ekianjo wrote: post #47
Disruptive_Dave wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Classifying an entire medium as "low quality content" is pretty damn shortsighted. You do know that listeners get to choose what podcasts they press "play" on, right?

It's not short-sighted once you consider the large mass of podcasts is composed of people recording themselves speaking without any prior script. Of course it's going to be low density and low quality, just like a chat with friends. There are exceptions like Serial, but that's what they are: exceptions.

There are exceptions like Serial, but that's what they are: exceptions.

Sure, taken as a whole, most podcasts are terrible, and quality podcasts are rare exceptions. But then again quality books are also, on the whole, a rare exception when you include every self published manuscript floating around somewhere on the internet.

The absolute number of decent podcasts out there have increased massively over the past year or two, and there are easily a dozen podcasts that can match serial in quality and production values and more are coming online all the time.

Re: Podcasting is getting huge

#63

Post by riebschlager »

jacquesm wrote: post #15
DiabloD3 wrote: post #4

The problem with podcasting for me is I have no easy way to consume them that isn't already part of my entertainment workflow. Literally, if it isn't something I can subscribe to in Youtube, or add it to my queue in Netflix, eventually it just gets lost and falls out of my entertainment workflow.

> entertainment workflow That's a bit of a contradiction.

I was thinking the same thing. If you have an "entertainment workflow" then you are doing entertainment wrong.

Re: Podcasting is getting huge

#65

Post by Zach_the_Lizard »

ShaneOG wrote: post #45
Zach_the_Lizard wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If you have a long commute, car/bike/train/etc. they're basically perfect audio companions. On bikes, at least where I live, using headphones is illegal. I'd love to listen to music or podcasts on my bike but I just can't do it with only one ear covered. It's probably not advisable anyways. Interestingly, it is legal to ride a bike or even drive a car while deaf. It would be illegal for a deaf person to cover both e…

Totally off-topic, but where do you live?

Arlington, Virginia. VA. code § 46.2-1078 is the relevant statute. https://vacode.org/46.2-1078/

I work in DC, so DC and / or Federal law would also be relevant. I believe the distracted driving statutes in DC would also apply to bikes, so headphones would fall under that I believe.

DC, VA, and MD also have contributory negligence. You can read more about that here:

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/24312/what-is-contr...

TL;DR you can receive no damages if you break the law in any tiny way while on a bicycle or on foot. Wearing headphones might be said to have contributed in some way, so you might get nothing.

Re: Podcasting is getting huge

#66

Post by criddell »

arcatek wrote: post #27
forgetsusername wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Besides reading is a lot easier for me Why do you view it as an alternative to reading, rather than a compliment?

In what mesure does a podcast compliment a proper article? As far as I see, the only thing that could be missing would be the interactivity (being able to ask question about the parts of the article that we haven't understood and that we would like to clarify), but podcasts don't solve this.

> In what mesure does a podcast compliment a proper article?

People have been known to enjoy both the Game of Thrones books and the television series.

You could transcribe a Louis C.K. hour long show and read it in 15 minutes, but you would lose a lot.

Re: Podcasting is getting huge

#67

Post by will_pseudonym »

PhilipA wrote: post #64

I really enjoy podcasts at work, and they excel when I am doing boring repetitive work. I do however wish that there would be a better place for Podcast discovery than ITunes.

Overcast + Twitter connection = You see the podcasts people you follow, subscribe to. Great stuff I've found here!!

HN is a great discovery service, as is Facebook.

Email me if you wanna know the podcast my fiancé and I look forward to most each week! :)

Re: Podcasting is getting huge

#68

Post by escherize »

PhilipA wrote: post #64

I really enjoy podcasts at work, and they excel when I am doing boring repetitive work. I do however wish that there would be a better place for Podcast discovery than ITunes.

I paid for Overcast by Marco Arment on iOS and it's pretty good at recommendation (uses Twitter). He's since made it free (!) so you should check it out if you run an iDevice.

Re: Podcasting is getting huge

#69

Post by corobo »

Spearchucker wrote: post #31
Lewton wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I find the advertising inside podcasts also particularly annoying. Really? Most podcast apps replace the skip buttons with "jump forward/back 15/30 sec". Hitting a button twice is too much effort in exchange for getting content for free?

Yes I could FF through ads. The point (for me) is that I can leave my phone in my pocket and use two hands to do something, or keep them in my pockets when trudging home through snow. Which adds to the aggravation of ads - put stuff down, fish phone out of pocket, turn on phone, FF, stash phone. Or listen to the ad. Thanks, but no sale.

We currently don't have the technology to automatically transcribe podcasts into text (good for the SEO on your podcast site) - But even if we did, how would it know that something is an advert as opposed to part of the show? Most of the podcasts I listen to have ads and in many cases the ads aren't just at the start or end, they're either a live read during the podcast or a cutaway somewhere towards the middle.

Maybe you're just not the target market for ad-funded podcasts.

Re: Podcasting is getting huge

#70

Post by massysett »

Zach_the_Lizard wrote: post #33
bane wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have a long commute, car/bike/train/etc. they're basically perfect audio companions. I couldn't figure out what to do with them either until I decided to stop listening to the news on a daily basis during my commute (it made me too aggravated).

>If you have a long commute, car/bike/train/etc. they're basically perfect audio companions. On bikes, at least where I live, using headphones is illegal. I'd love to listen to music or podcasts on my bike but I just can't do it with only one ear covered. It's probably not advisable anyways. Interestingly, it is legal to ride a bike or even drive a car while deaf. It would be illegal for a deaf person to cover both e…

I admire your desire to adhere to the law, but in the DC area I never see traffic enforcement applied to cyclists and I rarely see it applied to cars, so I doubt an officer is going to nail you for having some earbuds.
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