News

Are Podcasts Inefficient?

Wednesday, June 28th, 2006 at 1:30 PM - by

Despite the growing success and popularity of podcasts, not everyone thinks they are a good use of time. Some people see podcasting as a slow medium for information delivery, according to a MarketWatch report.

Writing on his own blog, Web-content management entrepreneur Pater T. Davis says "In the time I can listen to an average podcast, I could have caught up on my 50 favorite blogs, or read a chapter in a book, or read the latest issue of Red Herring magazine."

He thinks that it's much more efficient to read information for yourself than listen while someone provides it to you.

Traci Sheridan, the founder of Waxxi.us, thinks podcasts need to be more interactive before they can become a valuable medium for information distribution. She has tried her experiment, too. Listeners were encouraged to call in on phone lines or participate in an online chat while the podcast was being recorded. "We thought that it would be more interesting to let people be part of the conversation. The audience is what's really interesting," she said.

Even though some listeners don't see much value in podcasts, most seem pleased with the current pre-recorded style. The iTunes Music store features an extensive podcast library, and many users prefer the time-shifted style of listening to a podcast when it is most convenient.

As the podcast market matures, we may see a blending of the two styles: podcasts recorded live with listener interaction, but are also available for download after the fact. As the technology improves, we will likely see even more ways podcasts can be presented.

Until then, we'll continue listening and watching podcasts that, for some, are a waste of time. For the rest of us, they work just fine.

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Small White Car said:

member since 02 Jul 2004 with 1953 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Wed Jun 28, 2006 1:47 pm

Podcasts, like radio, are only interesting when they provide things you can't do in print. Back-and-forth arguments or other kinds of conversation are good. A lone person reading into a mic is bad.

Podcasts CAN be useful, but for the vast majority of them out there I have to agree with this article. If it's information I COULD be reading on my own then that's the way it should be presented.

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geoduck said:

member since 30 Dec 2003 with 1739 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Wed Jun 28, 2006 1:50 pm

I agree.

I only subscribe to a couple of entertainment podcasts and then only listen to them on long road trips. I just don't have time to rely on them for real news. Sorry but that includes Mac Geek Gab, and TMO To Go as well.

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A guest said: (hide)

Wed Jun 28, 2006 1:58 pm

Yep, I often read several blogs while I'm out running... it's much more efficient.

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A guest said: (hide)

Wed Jun 28, 2006 2:21 pm

Podcasts great for the multitasker. "Read" books and news items while driving, exercising, etc. At school, having a letcure in portable format saves time and money.

Like anything, there's a time and place for everything. There are bound to be instances where podcasts are not suitable or another form of media would work better.

But who cares? It's here, it works, and it has a niche.

I can live with that.

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A guest said: (hide)

Wed Jun 28, 2006 2:23 pm

"Yep, I often read several blogs while I'm out running... it's much more efficient."

Indeed. This Pater T. Davis guy totally misses the point.

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macslut said:

member since 03 Sep 2004 with 60 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Wed Jun 28, 2006 2:24 pm

"Yep, I often read several blogs while I'm out running... it's much more efficient."

I think I may have almost hit you when I was driving and reading my blogs.

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A guest said: (hide)

Wed Jun 28, 2006 2:29 pm

Of course it's a well-known fact that _all_ blogs are informative, witty and well worth reading, including the ever popular "Toe Fungus of the Day" blog. While podcasts containing stories with good voices, interviews, and in-depth discussion of important issues are all a waste of time that would be better spent reading today's exciting installment of athlet's foot. And video podcasts are the absolute worst time wasters. I mean, why watch a 4 minute episode of "Tiki Bar TV" when I could read a 200 page description of what happens in someone's blog?

If there was any time-saving to be had with this artcle, it was that I won't waste any time ever reading this guy's blog if that is the best he can up with.

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Mikuro said:

member since 15 Jun 2002 with 450 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Wed Jun 28, 2006 2:34 pm

Yeah, I think they're missing the point. Audio is not text. They are two different media, with different purposes. The great thing about audio is that it doesn't eat up your time and productivity like text does. I can do other things while listening. I can eat, I can work, and heck, I can even read the "competition".

And if I'm upset with the slow pace of an speaker in an audio file, I'm very happy to speed it up to 1.5x speed (with QuickTime 7, this is easy and painless, since it automatically compensates for the pitch shift). I actually listen to audio and even watch movies and TV shows at 1.5x frequently. I know, I'm a freak.

I agree that most podcasts are a waste of time...just like most web sites, most TV shows, most radio programs, most books, most magazines, most movies, etc. (Oh, and let's not forget "most people". ) That hardly means the medium itself is useless, though.

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A guest said: (hide)

Wed Jun 28, 2006 2:42 pm

I download mostly news podcasts (a lot) and a few Mac related podcasts. I ove the news podcasts so that I can keep updated on the news as I am constantly on the go and almost never home. Having the news on my iPod also allows me to go back and listen to something over again or share it with somebody else who may have missed it.

There are a lot of podcasts that are simply not worth the download and there are a lot of blogs that are simply not worth visiting, so for me podcasts are the best way to go.

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Wade Moline said:

member since 28 Jun 2006 with 1 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Wed Jun 28, 2006 2:43 pm

I download mostly news podcasts (a lot) and a few Mac related podcasts. I love the news podcasts so that I can keep updated on the news as I am constantly on the go and almost never home. Having the news on my iPod also allows me to go back and listen to something over again or share it with somebody else who may have missed it.

There are a lot of podcasts that are simply not worth the download and there are a lot of blogs that are simply not worth visiting, so for me podcasts are the best way to go.

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gslusher said:

member since 13 Nov 2002 with 2050 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Wed Jun 28, 2006 7:15 pm

From the article:

Quote:
Writing on his own blog, Web-content management entrepreneur Pater T. Davis says "In the time I can listen to an average podcast, I could have caught up on my 50 favorite blogs, or read a chapter in a book, or read the latest issue of Red Herring magazine.

I guess some nefarious underground organization is holding his family hostage unless he listens to podcasts. Has he never heard of choice? "I think podcasts are a waste of time, so anyone who listens to them is obviously a moron," is the attitude he presents. Who gives a @#&( what he thinks? If he wants to read, he should read. If someone else wants to listen, they can listen. I do both: I listen to audiobooks in the car and read magazines and books. Some materials are better in audio, while others are better in print.

As for "blogs," the great majority I've seen are, themselves, wastes of time. Many are poorly written and offer inane commentary on inconsequential topics, most of which the authors apparently know little to nothing about. Even those done by professional writers are ofen badly done, perhaps because of time pressures. Instead of turning out a column once a week, the "blogger" is forced to write one or more articles every day. That seldom allows for research, analysis, and reflection. I much prefer weekly articles like Vern Seward's here on TMO.

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rezonate said:

member since 04 Feb 2005 with 690 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Thu Jun 29, 2006 11:58 am

Here's something to ad to the mix. My brother is starting a DVD magazine ("Motion Ink") highlighting artwork and artists in the tattoo industry. He's in New England, I'm in California. I'm really interested in what he's doing, but can't be there to see it happen. So I decided to record a weekly podcast where he and his crew talk about the production. With Apple, this process is painless - fire up a chat, record/edit with GarageBand, post with iWeb to a .mac site. It's also "free", since the equipment is bought & paid for. I add intro/outro music, move the comments around. The format is tight - two topics with three questions each, limited to 10 minutes. Even with those constraints we end up recording two shows' worth of information each week. So now I issue bonus shows.

Will anybody care about listening to an *audio* feed about a *visual* medium? Sounds crazy, but their MySpace site has over 500 friends. One in five people have at least one tattoo. Ten minutes is half a workout, and is exactly my commute (Mac Geek Gab takes me 4 commutes to "read"). I do know that the process helps me cut my chops as a technologist, and it keeps me in the loop with my family. Plus these guys are just darn entertaining. Content is king - get the content out there in *every way possible* and someone will appeciate it.

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servmid said:

member since 08 Jul 2006 with 1 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Sat Jul 08, 2006 10:04 pm

Podcasts are great if you are driving. I do not have the time to read and get the info I get with Podcasts. I only listen to MAC related. Opinions of experts, info on new programs and hardware, etc.,tips, warnings about problems on the MAC. Yes we do have some.

Why should I listen to AM radio whenI can listen to MAC news.

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