On the other hand, people have taken to calling any audio file a ‘podcast’, which is less great. It’s a podcast only if it is syndicated; otherwise, it’s just an audio file.

Open Word—The Podcasting Story ~ Stephen Downes

It is nice to see the increased interest in podcasting in generally, in the tech realm and in education. Good too to see this important point. An MP3 is not a podcast, the delivery system of an RSS feed with enclosures is. Or the fact that a podcast, if you subscribe is pushed to a you or your podcatcher.

More pod info on the posts linked from the article above:
Doc Searls Weblog · Open Word—The Podcasting Story and Priorities for podcasting

I am fairly disappointed in my podcasting lack recently, I fully expected to get one going with my class on my return to the classroom. I underestimated a lot about the difficulty of jumping back in to teaching after 9 years. Hopefully next session.

I’ve also slowed up my Edutalk output. This is mostly due to getting guests lined up. If you would like a chat or know someone who would make a good guest please get in touch.

2 thoughts on “Pedantic about Podcasts

  1. We get people who call any form of audio or video media a podcast. A screen recording posted to Youtube? Podcast! 1 hour class video recording? Podcast! MP3 file of a recorded discussion? Podcast! Powerpoint file uploaded to Slideshare? Podcast!

    But, if I talk to them about syndication or the things that make a podcast a podcast… crickets. I mean, it’s awesome that people are creating things and sharing what they make, but it’s hard to figure out what they’re really talking about when they describe their project. Podcast!

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