No iPod Needed
In the spirit of my recent rant on educating listeners that they don’t need an iPod to listen to podcasts, I’ve removed the photo of the iPod from the top of my blog. Instead I’ve posted my own picture.
Why did I put a photo of me? I noticed when I went to the summit in London a lot of people knew who I was, but many didn’t know what I looked like. I’ve noticed that I like knowing what bloggers look like when I go to their site. I also think it adds a welcoming feel to a blog. So I’ve added my photo. And yes, I am older than I look.
March 26th, 2007 16:08
How about a some Photoshop levels/curves adjustment to help remove some of the shadows on your face? (for the ladies…and your Mom).
March 26th, 2007 16:28
Just incase anyone hasn’t seen this video yet. Here’s a funny video that I came accross on YouTube. It answer the question, “Don’t I need an iPod?” very well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpciLIA0Kn4
Thanks for the Podcasts and Blog Jason
April 3rd, 2007 08:50
Great point, Jason - I’m glad you’re moving in this direction. I did a presentation on “Getting Started Podcasting” at a women-and-media conference at MIT this past weekend, and when I told folks that you don’t need an iPod (I’ve been podcasting since late 2005, and I don’t even own one! I’ve held one in my hands once or twice that I can remember), the relief was palpable in the room.
I think that linking podcasting with iPods really introduces an imaginary class barrier — people think it’s only for rich folks who can afford to drop a couple hundred bucks on a 21st century version of a transistor radio, and they think that it’s totally out of their reach.
But when they realize that PODdcasting is more about Personal On-Demand Digital media, and that they can do it (on the cheap-and-grainy) with a sound recorder of just about any kind (plus a patch cord), and a computer with Audacity… or even just a telephone and a free conference call service that lets you record your calls for free… things start to look a lot different.
Maybe we need to change the name to PODDcasting — Personal On Demand Digital - casting, to decouple the concept from Apple…
Just an idea.
In any case, I think that our early adoption and our early segmentation into a niche of our own may have worked against us. Now comes the challenge of educating people about this topic.
In fact, I’m shifting the focus of my own site Podtopia.net away from providing podcast services, to providing training and outreach and tutorials — education for everyone — to help address this issue.
These are very exciting times, to be sure. Thanks very much for your contributions to this expanding field! You do great work!
Kay
April 3rd, 2007 10:23
Kay,
Even though I think it is too late to change the name, PODDcasting is the best alternative I’ve heard yet.
I am definitely going to do like you did and make sure I mention the “no iPod needed” message at all my speaking engagements.