Podcasting

A **podcast** is like a radio program except people can download a podcast to a portable media player (such as an iPod or other mp3 player) and listen to it at their convenience. Podcasts can be created by anyone with the right equipment (computer, internet connection, and audio recorder) and uploaded to a server on the internet where they can be found and downloaded by podcatchers (programs that can identify a podcast.) The podcatcher //reads// an rss feed to identify the podcast and download it to a computer. Podcasts can have only sound or sound and video. A video podcast is sometimes called a vidcast. A podcast with sound and pictures (but not moving) is called an //enhanced// podcast. Like the term //[|broadcast]//, //podcast// can refer either to the content itself or to the method by which the content is syndicated; the latter is also called **podcasting**. A //podcaster// is the person who creates the content. A podcast is a special type of rss feed. It is a series of visual or sound and visual data files which are distributed over the internet by [|syndicated] [|download], through [|Web feeds], to [|portable media players] and [|personal computers]. Though the same content may also be made available by direct download or [|streaming], a podcast is distinguished from most other digital media formats by its ability to be syndicated, subscribed to, and downloaded [|automatically] when new content is added. The term is a [|portmanteau] of the words "iPod" and "broadcast",[|[][|1][|]] the [|Apple] [|iPod] being the brand of portable media player for which the first podcasting [|scripts] were developed (see [|history of podcasting]). Such scripts allow podcasts to be automatically transferred from a personal computer to a mobile device after they are downloaded.[|[][|2][|]] As more devices other than iPods became able to synchronize with podcast feeds, a [|backronym] developed where //podcast// stood for "Personal On Demand broadCAST."[|[][|3][|]][|[][|4][|]][|[][|5][|]] though such a definition would create a [|misnomer], because podcasts are not available "on demand"; they are subscribed to and usually received at set intervals. Such a definition would more accurately describe a direct download or streaming media.

This picture shown below is the symbol used for a podcast.



[|click here]....for a link to the website I got the info and picture from.

­Podcasting is a free service that allows Internet users to pull audio files (typically [|MP3s]) from a podcasting Web site to listen to on their computers or personal digital audio players. The term comes from a combination of the words [|**iPod**] (a personal digital audio player made by Apple) and **broadcasting**. Even though the term is derived from the iPod, you don't need an iPod to listen to a podcast. You can use virtually any [|portable media player] or your computer. ­Unlike [|Internet radio], users don't have to 'tune in' to a particular broadcast. Instead, they **download** the podcast on demand or subscribe via an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed, which automatically downloads the podcast to their computers. The technology is similar to that used by [|TiVo], a [|­personal video recorder] that lets users set which programs they'd like to record and then automatically records those programs for later viewing.

[|link for website]

This is another symbol used for podcasting.