A podcast is a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar programme, made available on the Internet for downloading to a personal audio player.
Since it was first popularised in October 2004, it has become a phenomenon. Feedburner, an American blog traffic-monitoring company, reported that more than 1,700 podcast feeds appeared online within the first six months of its introduction.
The growth was further fuelled by the introduction of a podcast directory and a subscription function on Apple’s iTunes 4.9 software in 2006. These allow users to catalogue and subscribe to a range of podcasts. Within two days, Apple’s customers subscribed to more than one million podcasts.
Other podcast directories like Podcast Alley, which lists 11,858 podcasts, and Podcast.net, with 19,015 podcasts, have also mushroomed all over the world.
Unlike traditional radio broadcasts that are transmitted over the air, podcasts reside on websites and blogs and can be downloaded onto digital music players and computers at users' convenience.
Most podcasts are homegrown radio shows featuring amateurs who just want to be heard. The audio broadcasts give everyone a chance at radio stardom, and also give web users more choices on what they want to listen to, whenever they want and wherever they are.
In Singapore, podcasts range from audio tours of the country (inside singapore.blogspot.com) to music from local independent bands (smallfrypodcast.libsyn.com).
There have also been signs of podcasting going mainstream. The Health Promotion Board (HPB), for example, has been making use of podcasting and RSS to reach its audience. RSS enables a podcast to be transferred automatically from a Web server to a personal audio player.
HPB creates its own audio programmes for people to download and listen to on their digital players. For example, information on women-related diseases have been converted into an audio feed and put on the Internet for anyone to subscribe to.
A podcast is a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar programme, made available on the Internet for downloading to a personal audio player.
Since it was first popularised in October 2004, it has become a phenomenon. Feedburner, an American blog traffic-monitoring company, reported that more than 1,700 podcast feeds appeared online within the first six months of its introduction.
