I got an iPod for Christmas and it’s a formidable portable listening device. While everyone keeps preaching that you don’t need an iPod to listen or view podcasts (and you still don’t), ever since getting one, my podcast consumption has increased 100%.
What I realized is that while I use my computer for work-related tasks, the last thing I want to do is spend my leisure time in front of said computer to listen to podcasts.
Podcasts – no matter the subject – are leisure items to me. When I want to laugh, cry or discover new trends in my industry, I tune into podcasts.
Before my iPod, the new episodes of my favourite podcasts would be downloaded and they’d sit in iTunes unlistened. Now that I have an iPod, I download the episode to my portable listening device and I listen to them while running errands, driving, flying to some conference or just sitting in front of toob while not watching TV.
In fact:
- When I want a dose of wittiness, I listen to InsidePR or For Immediate Release.
- When I want to hear a relaxing voice, I listen to Six Pixels of Separation or Trafcom News (something about Mitch and Donna’s voices).
- When I want entertainment, I listen to CBC Radio 3, In Over Your Head or Uncle Seth.
- When I want industry news, I listen to Podcast Tools or Podcasting Underground.
- While I don’t have children, I tune in every once in a while to hear what books Andrea & Mark are talking about on their very clever podcast, Just One More Book.
- And of course, I’ve started to view more video podcasts. I have Rocketboom on my iPod, as well as Despair Inc., 88slides, Global National and Inside Popnology.
And contrary to what I hear some people saying, I don’t listen to the same podcasts while jogging on the treadmill. The podcasts of choice while working out are ones with uninterrupted music – meaning no talking for about 30-minutes or more – just blazing tunes. It was difficult to find podcasts that only played high energy music, but there are few out there, such as Marina’s Podcasts (please suggest others if you know of any).
Yes, you don’t need an iPod to listen to a podcast, but man, having one helps to increase one’s consumption of podcasts.
Tags: podcasting, inside pr, for immediate release, mitch joel, donna papacosta, uncle seth, paul colligan, jason van orden, in over your head, just one more book, rocketboom, 88slides, amber macarthur, ipod, marina’s podcasts
Thanks for the InsidePR shout-out. When you wrote “witty,” you had to be referring to my co-host Terry Fallis, though, I’m hoping you didn’t have the “half” variety of “witty” in mind. He’s a little sensitive about that.
I’m totally with you on iPods making podcasts so much more listener-friendly. I had a third-gen iPod that didn’t handle podcasts very well i.e. it wouldn’t save your spot, so each time I stopped an episode, I’d have to jot down the position…aargh. So I bought a nano just for podcats…problem solved. Of course, nanos don’t play video, so I recently purchased a 60g video. Now my wife and daughter are enjoying their hand-me-down iPods.
Folks, my dinky, beat-up, 18-month-old iRiver works just fine for listening to podcasts, actually, and it’s a great device for recording in the field. Only drawback: I lose the convenience of being able to sync to iTunes.
And if anyone ever wants to go to sleep listening to my New Comm Road Podcast, I’d be honored 🙂
Karin, I too go to bed listening to podcasts off my iPod. Last night, I fell asleep listening to an MP3 of a case study on how to run a membership website. Now, granted, it wasn’t a podcast, but having my iPod means that I can now listen to these things without being chained to my computer.
And Donna, that’s the problem with being in front of the computer. Multi-tasking on about a dozen different things at once. Being distracted and all that good stuff.
I was the same: You don´t need an iPod, you don´t need iTunes – bla bla 🙂 I´ll share this with you and your listeners – I go to bed with my video iPod – I fall asleep watching Rocketboom, Diggnation and GeekBriefTV and listening to GeekNewsCentralPodcast, FIR, and a lot of Danish podcasts and repurpused content from the National Danish Radio – before I hit my head when I fell aslep holding a book, now I hit myself in the head with the video iPod – auch 🙂
Thanks for listening to our Podcast.
I’m glad to know you consider us entertainment…
I’ll have to check out Marina’s Podcast.
Thanks for the tip.
~Tara
lead singer of “Uncle Seth”
Leesa, I agree that the iPod increases one’s podcast consumption. When I graduated from a dinky iRiver to a sleek iPod, I began to listen more. Unlike you, I like listening to talk at the gym, and switch to music only for my cooldown (I love Anna Nalick).
I find that when I try to listen to podcasts on my Mac, I cannot focus. I’m trying to do 27 things at once. I prefer to listen while I’m at the gym or doing chores, when the mind is free. Yesterday I listened to all of Mitch Joel’s holiday edition of Six Pixels of Separation (90 minutes?) while taking down the Christmas decorations.
You and I share some common casts on our playlists. I will check out the ones you’ve mentioned that I’m not yet familiar with. Thanks for mentioning Trafcom News!
Leesa,
Thanks a million for listening — and for spreading the word.
We’d love it if you would send us your thoughts on one of your favourite childhood books (mp3 file or via myChingo) so we can include it in our show.
Congrats on the ipod — I’m still stuck listening on my PC
Andrea
http://www.JustOneMoreBook.com