The Daily Pondering

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Friday, July 22, 2005

Podcasts!

Although it has taken a while, I've finally entered the world of podcasting. I think it's going to be big as more and more people catch on to it. In case you haven't heard of podcasting, it combines features of Tivo and radio together so that you can listen to short audio segments (i.e. 30 min) on-demand on your mp3 player. In my case, I listen to podcasts on my iPod and love the interface that Apple iTunes provides to search for podcasts. Anyway, podcasting is wonderful because virtually anyone can create their own podcast show that can be about any subject they want. And, the best part is that obtaining podcasts is FREE and EDUCATIONAL! In addition to listening to paid audiobooks in my car on my way to work, I can listen to FREE podcasts and learn about subjects that I'm interested in. Another bonus is that a lot of the information is current since new podcasts are being created! There is a lot of potential for podcasting and it will be interesting to see the evolution of this new trend. I hope that the bad podcasts (i.e., boring, unedited, lots of static on the microphone) will die through natural selection because there will be few listeners and I hope the good podcasts last forever since they will be a lot of loyal listeners.

So far, I've found one podcast that I think will be extremely successful as podcasting continues to catch on. "The Cubicle Escape Pod" (check out www.cubicleescape.com) is my favorite podcast that I am completely addicted to. The hosts are Jonathan Brown & Matt Thompson and they discuss a lot of issues that entrepreneurs face as they start a business. They have a good variety of segments in their shows from interviews with business owners to indie music. I also enjoy their sense of humor and entertaining approach to their shows. I have listened to the last 4 most recent podcasts, but am anxious to start from episode 1 and continue to the most current podcast at my own pace. I think their discussions on many topics are very valuable and I know that I am learning a lot listening to their podcast in a condensed period of time... and it's fun too! Though I might get bummed out driving to work every weekday morning, I look forward to listening to their podcast while I drive. It makes my mornings and evenings! And oh, word of mouth is going to spread fast about "The Cubicle Escape Pod" via co-workers in their cubicles as they await their big escape! Keep up the good work and keep on inspiring us all, Jonathan & Matt (Hey Matt, I hope you find this blog entry as a result of Technorati)!!!