The Temptation of Podcasting

I don't jump on new gadget bandwagons: I hate waste and clutter, poorly made appliances actually piss me off (that college paper I did on landfills left me with a visceral resistance to producing trash as well as the Shoreline Ampitheatre, it exceeds rational explanation).

Same with new technology: who has time to listen to blog posts? Audio is linear! Time is short! Life is cluttered! You must discipline curiosity to pay the bills!!!

I did not attend the podcasting session but audiocasters were all around. Methinks this could be public access tv meets the blogosphere: ad hoc audio shows by amateurs worldwide, now freed from the shackles of barrier to entry for a Gerrison Keiler-like timeslot. Surely there will be lots of junk, but the wisdom of blogosphere crowd highlights the good stuff. NUTS! MUST RESIST! DAAAMN YOU PODCASTERS!!! Oh, but it gets worse...

I resist the temptress iPod who physically took my breath away the first time I saw her ad in a magazine (gasp -- what irridescent beauty! striking, yet elegant - IMPECCABLE nuance...evil...must....resist....shiny beauty...just a seductive walkman, don't look at it...moving [gulp] right along...). But now I imagine: an iPod could let me listen to blogs while I excercise! Drive! It would free up so much time! It would get me out of the house! I am coming to the conclusion that this is a sacrifice I must make, fork over the iPod dough. It is for the good of mankind, right? It is my duty as a public radio citizen! I am taking one for the team!!!

Podcasting. You bastards!

Comments

[garybibb]

And we podcasters love you too. . .

[Ray Moore]

I can understand your point, up to a degree. But here are the points where I disagree.

Who has time for audio blogs. You would be surprised. For me personally, I have an hour and half driver each way to work, and over the years all radio even public radio like NPR has gone down hill to the point of being intolerable. The music and talk radio is repetive and boring as hell. And as for the public radio, it was never high on my favorite list to begin with.

As for resisting the temptation of podcasting, I failed. It began insideously. The slick and polished Daily Source Code drew me in. But very soon the arrogance of Adam was finger nails on the black board. Then came Catfish, Mr. X and Just Julie, Jawbone, Dragonpage and Geek Fu. And I was hooked. To say that that we podcasters are nuts need some degree of quantification. There is a certain mental quirkiness involved and I put myself into that category also. But I have a question.
Suppose television was brand new and because of some personal issues the entire endeavor was forsaken because of it's earliest shows?
Silly isn't it?

Podcasting is still in its earliest days of infancy. Yes, there is tons of crap, but few of those shows will survive, and the hopefully the better ones will survive.

Long Live Podcasting!