Podcasting: Getting a handle on the Internet's new wave

By Brandon Tucker, Senior Writer

Here on TravelGolf.com you've probably read the blurbs and seen the links for the TravelGolf.com This Week podcast and maybe you've asked yourself, "What's a 'podcast'?"

Dave Berner's golf podcast is produced like any other radio program. The difference is you can listen to it when and where you wish.

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Podcasts were born when Apple's iTunes service popularized downloading of online audio broadcasts to iPod players. Today you don't need an iPod to listen to a podcast - anyone with an Internet connection can do it. The form grew quickly: "Podcast" was the New Oxford American Dictionary's Word of the Year for 2005.

Podcasts are like any radio show you might listen to in your car on the way to work. The only difference is the choice of when to listen belongs to you, not station programmers. And where as well: With a portable MP3 player your podcasts can go anywhere you do.

Podcasts vary in length from a few minutes to an hour or more, but nearly all can be accessed for free and have few or no commercials. You download a podcast much as you would an MP3 from iTunes or another file-sharing program. You can save a podcast and listen as often as you like, or open it directly from a Web site and listen to it once.

Podcasts can be created by anyone too. All it takes is a computer, a microphone, some basic software and something to talk about. As a result, podcasters run the gamut from President Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger to suburban-basement amateurs - and even golf nuts like Dave Berner. More and more people are becoming "podcasters" every day, and more and more listeners are finding podcasts worth listening to.

You can also subscribe to your favorite podcasts using an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed.

March 23, 2007