No matter how far you are behind the loop, podcasting is pretty easy to understand. The name is derived from Apple’s ubiquitous iPod series of personal music players, a name that has come to stand for the concept as well as the product, like Kleenex or Xerox, and like Walkman used to be.
The idea is that a podcaster makes a recording, or a show, and distributes it to people to play on their MP3 players. Listeners can fast forward, rewind and replay to their heart’s content. Think of it as TiVo for your iPod.
It’s easier than it sounds. “All you need is a PC and a microphone,” says Maffin. “You can pick up something suitable at an electronics store for $15 and the software is free.”
Producers (or podcasters) create their show on a personal computer, using a microphone for their voice. They can use easily acquired software to edit in music, effects and other recorded sounds as required…
…”There are literally thousands of podcasts on a variety of subjects,” says Willi Powell, strategic development manager for Apple Canada and a confessed podcast fan.
“Of course, it all starts with music, but you can find everything from news to religion to home improvement.”…
Jerry Langdon
Toronto Star Online (thestar.com)
Analysis:
We have started a podcast on the soundteaching.org site, and are offering a new edition of the podcast each Friday afternoon. While much of the material at the site the members have already seen (bulletin articles and sermons), these podcasts are unique to the site itself. So, they will benefit the brethren here.
A different Bible subject is dealt with each Friday, and the members here are encouraged to take advantage of this new means of preaching the gospel. Also, please mention to others the soundteaching.org web site, so that we will be able to maximize our effectiveness in sharing the gospel with others through this medium.
By the way, you don’t need any fancy software or special knowledge to listen to the podcasts. (There are many wonderful advantages to this medium for those who are technically savvy). But, all you have to do is to go the web site, and click on the little blue arrow. If your internet access is too slow to listen to the podcast in this way, you can right click on the link, save the file to your hard drive, and listen to it using the Windows Media Player.
The web site is getting a lot of traffic, and doing a lot of good. Notice the statistics below. If you have any technical questions you need answered, please talk to Stan.
Below is a graph showing the total number of pages on that were viewed on the soundteaching.org each day from 5/18 to about 4:30 pm on 5/25. Also shown are the total number of visitors each day, and the total number of those visitors who have returned to the site from a previous visit. (Of course, what we want are for visitors to the site to return again and again).
Note: If graphic is not readable, the table contains the following information:
Thursday, May 18
Page Loads: 161
Unique Visitors: 53
Returning Visitors: 14
Friday, May 19
Page Loads: 165
Unique Visitors: 43
Returning Visitors: 10
Saturday, May 20
Page Loads: 256
Unique Visitors: 108
Returning Visitors: 10
Sunday, May 21
Page Loads: 73
Unique Visitors: 28
Returning Visitors: 7
Monday, May 22
Page Loads: 111
Unique Visitors: 40
Returning Visitors: 14
Tuesday, May 23
Page Loads: 145
Unique Visitors: 38
Returning Visitors: 13
Wednesday, May 24
Page Loads: 156
Unique Visitors: 57
Returning Visitors: 12
Thursday, May 25
Page Loads: 86
Unique Visitors: 24
Returning Visitors: 8
Note: Characteristically, the biggest days will be Friday and Saturday, as the site is usually updated late Thursday and Friday.
