 |
|
 |
|
| What is a Podcast |
In short, it is a way of publishing audio content on the Internet.
Audio content--that is, recorded talk or music in MP3 file--is published through a feed file
so that subscribers can easily track new published items.
Question 1 : How does podcast work ?
As depicted in the diagram below, there are couple of stages before getting to the final
stage, that is listening to podcast.
 |
Stage 1
Podcaster, that is who publishes podcast, records the speech into MP3 file
and place it into a remote server from where you will be able to reach that file.
Stage 2
Then, he informs subscribers, that is you, about where he puts that audio file and what it is about,
by creating a new entry in the feed file and entering descriptive information, such as full address of
that audio file, title, and short description. This entry is called an episode and feed file
includes all available episodes at that moment.
Stage 3
If you subscribe to that feed file via Ziepod, Ziepod periodically checks that feed file
and looks for new entries. When there is, it notifies you of those new episodes so that you can
take an appropriate action, such as initiating its download.
Stage 4 & 5
After detection of new episode, since Ziepod knows where to find that audio file, you can start
to download that file(Stage-4) and then listen(Stage-5), or directly listen to it, called streaming.
|
Question 2 : What kind of content can be published through podcasts ?
Any kind of topic can be the subject of podcasts. For example, you can listen to
interviews with people, such as with authors, actors, and musicians; any kind of music;
radio programmes such as news and talkshows; commentaries and reviews about
anything, such as about latest movies; and comedy sketches. Today there are many
radios and television companies that publish their broadcasted content in audio
and video format, including CNN, BBC, and many more.
Question 3 : Do podcasters always publish their content in MP3 files?
No, not necessarily. There are many audio formats, such as WMA and OGG. But most of the
podcasters are using MP3 since it's the most common way of conveying audio content. Of course
other than audio content, podcasts can publish content in video format. These type of podcasts
are also called vlogs.
Question 4 : In what ways podcast receiver like Ziepod can help me?
Podcast receivers help you monitor lots of podcasts at the same time. They periodically
check podcasts for updates and retrieve those updates to you. So no need to check each individual
podcast one-by-one. Unlike any other podcast receiver, Ziepod comes with lots of features.
In short, Ziepod provides many features in very well-and-cleverly-designed user interface.
It essentially automates many actions and saves lots of time.
Question 5 : Where can I find more podcasts ?
There are many podcast search engines on the Internet. One of them is
Feedzie.com, which is the sister project of Ziepod.
You can search hundreds of thousands of podcast episodes in audio and video format, as well as
podcasts themselves. Feedzie.com also hosts a podcast directory where quality podcasts are
grouped into major categories and tagged with informative labels.
|
|
| |
 |
|
 |
|
|