Definition of Podcasting
Podcasting is a term for the online publishing of files in a way that allows for the subscription-like syndication and distribution of files as they become available. Most podcasts are audio in MP3 format, syndicated through the RSS protocol. Other formats and other types of files, such as video, can also be podcasted, though these are limited by common bandwidth constraints.
While the term “podcasting” is a portmanteau of Apple’s popular “iPod” and “broadcasting,” podcasting does not require an iPod. Any digital audio player or computer can run an appropriate aggregator to convert podcasts for playback.
A podcast can be described as an audio magazine subscription, in that a subscriber receives programs without having to get them, and can listen to them at leisure. It can also be thought of as the internet equivalent of timeshift-capable digital video recorders (DVRs) such as TiVo, which let users automatically record and store television programs for later viewing.
Dave Winer, one of the creators of Podcasting says, “Think how a news aggregator works. You subscribe to a set of feeds, and then can easily view the new files from all of the feeds together, or each feed separately. Podcasting works the same way, with one exception. Instead of reading the new content on a computer screen, you listen to the new content on any capable mp3 player on the computer or hardware player such as the iPod. Think of your player with podcasting as having a set of subscriptions that are checked regularly for updates.”
See also : RSS