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Blogs are sooo last year! What’s the word of the month in the tech circles? Podcasting. Today Randy and I split up today to attend some different sessions. One of the more interesting ones
I went to today was called the "Future of Podcasting".
So what is podcasting? Basically it’s where someone takes their Blog/Site and reads it aloud to a microphone. They then save this audio file as an MP3 and distribute it. Not so revolutionary huh?
And why not call it Audio Blogging? I guess "podcasting" is a catchier name if not somewhat elitest (but you know how apple fans are to begin with). Anyway the cool part is that much like RSS you can send feeds to your MP3 player automatically. So plug it in over night and when you wake up you will have all new Information waiting for you on your MP3 player. That is the big draw for most people. How can the Society use this technology?
Ha! Let me see if I can one-up that. How about vlogging–video blogging? Try http://tomgreen.com/blog/blog.html
Same message: the media we can use just keeps comin’.
I see all three happening. It is the combination that gives this stuff exponential power. Those who get in early with variety in a space like health will become the incumbent and have competitive advantage as the supplier for the space.
I think it’s clear that the technologies of production of information are going to get richer and richer for the forseable future. It will be in constant flux. But what’s going to count in having impact is getting the people who can think about the significance of the technologies and then can put them to use going in your direction. The people part, I think, is more challenging that the technology itself.
Yeah,
I am really interested in Video Blogging. I just need to get a good web cam or a better camera on my Treo 600. Anyway here is a cool site that talks about the basics of Video Blogging
http://videoblogging.info/
Point one: I attended the SXSW panel on “Journalism vs. Blogging.” No (to me) new ground was covered. But as I sat there, I noticed that the panel was all white, 3 males and 1 female. The woman was Rebecca McKinnon, formerly of CNN. At one point, she mentioned that the relationship of journalists and bloggers was similar to that of a Venn diagram. She gave the impression that these were 2 circles of the same size with an overlap. This, to me, seems to promote a myth that media related bloggers like to encourage,that the two groups are roughly equal. The reality is more like two overlapping circles, one representing journalists which is huge, the other representing bloggers who are journalists which is very much smaller. A week or so ago, I saw a poll showing that only 3% of respondents read blogs on a daily basis. If I remember correctly, 48% had ever read one.
Point two: The next day, the March 21 issue of Newsweek contained an article mentioning McKinnon and pointing out that blogging is primarily a white male activity. We need to keep this in perspective. I have a low opinion of posters as an educational tool. In my prior “Public Education” life, I watched us print up a lot of pretty posters that staff and volunteers sat around and admired in staff and committee meetings, but then they mostly sat on shelves and gathered dust. We need to make sure that our blogs are reaching the target audiences and not just serving as echo chambers for a few of the same people.
BTW, Newsweek has added a “Blog Watch” to its Periscope section. Check it out.