Podcasts!

I have had an iPod since they first came out and can never see myself living without one. Dealing with the eye thing the last few weeks I have taken to enjoying audio even more - both audiobooks and podcasts. Been through about 5 books and need to get the reviews up but been busy just catching up on life.

However I wanted to comment on Podcasts for a moment. I dig them for the most part but what I am not digging is how some podcasts seem totally not worth being turned into a podcast or how the person doing the podcast is just totally lame.

For example. MP3.com has the Great Albums podcast. Perfect. A great host who has a radio voice, interacts well with his guests, showcases good music and it just all comes together well as a podcast. Been listening every week and have found some great new bands because of it.

BBC, NYtime and NPR - all great podcasts. I mean these are radio/newspaper guys just giving me the content in a new format.

Wired news. Just sucks. What I mean is this. Most of their podcasts are just the columnist reading their column into a cheap microphone and offering it up as an MP3. It is so bad. The Sex Column is one example of the worst. She is a terrrible interviewer and she seems to take no advantage of the spoken medium. I am sure she is a good writer and columnist and she should stick to it. Guys like Imomus are cool and are using podcasts to their advantage so Wired News should keep it up but they should fix the broken ones.

In radio, for example, most disc jockeys or hosts, are on the radio because they have a good voice, know how to conduct interviews and know how to use their voice as a tool. Hence why some radio people are not on TV. They are not good looking and make for better audio only mediums. I think the same should be done with podcasting - just because someone can write a column does not mean they should be the one to read their column and deliver it as a podcast. Someone good at narrating or has a good radio voice should be the one to transform the column into the MP3 medium - not the columnist. Just like in Audiobooks the author is not the one reading the book but someone else is chosen who can bring the book to live via voice and who is pleasant and intriguing to to listen to. Most authors would tell you the same that they are writers not good orators.

I saw this same thing happen in the tech industry when it comes to conferences. A software compnay would take a brilliant engineer and have him speak at a conference about his code or specific expertise. Problem is most engineers are engineers cause they are good coders, great at solving problems and many times they make lousy speakers. I always found that engineers like this are great for panels or sit down like venues where they can interact with other engineers but not used as speakers for large audiences. I hope I have highlighted the comparisons well. Not sure though. What I am trying to say is podcats are cool but when voice is the medium, the person delivering the content needs to know how to use the medium correctly otherwise it is a waste of time.

cya