Jamcast Pilot

[bouche]

I need to get an idea on how many people here use iTunes and have an iPod. I've been working with a few people and entertaining the notion of a Jamcast for a little while and I decided to take the CKCU radio show that was broadcast last winter/spring and convert it to mp3. With that I created the RSS feed that would be the link to subscribe to a podcast hosted on jambands.ca. If anyone is interested in listening to some great music and jamband related banter...

1. Subscription link for iTunes

2. Direct link to mp3

I've added a poll to find out how many people use iTunes.

[d_rawk]

That sounds awesome, Bouche! But really, iTunes & iPods aren't really necessary for people to enjoy or subscribe to the podcasts anyways, right?

[bouche]

the benefit of iTunes is it's ability to subscribe to the XML file for the podcast. It allows you to organize a podcast's episodes and also search the iTunes store for more podcasts.

Ultimately, it is just an mp3 file that you're listening too. Also, if the author uses XML to split up an episode into chapters and includes images, etc, I believe that iTunes would be necessary to take advantage of that stuff.

[thatpatguy]

there are other apps out there that allow you to do the same thing though.. you don't need iTunes and an iPod (though maybe it's preferable)

A great list of podcast software can been found here:

http://www.podcastingnews.com/topics/Podcast_Software.html

[d_rawk]

I think that with an aggregator like say iPodder you can subscribe to the RSS feeds and use it with either just your PC as is or any other mp3 player you might have (iPod or otherwise).

It tends to get confusing because of the 'pod' in the names, I think. Like, one would normally assume that something called "iPodder" is designed to be used with an iPod. But not so.

But up till now I've been mostly a "just click on the mp3 link" kinda guy, so I'm pretty new to the whole software aggregator/subscription stuff.

More important than any of this, though ...

what sort of ideas do you have kicking around for the jamcast?

[bouche]

So far I have been making a list of topics that could drive the talk portion of a jamcast.

How to use bitTorrent

How torrent sites work (ratios, seeding, leeching)

Oinking

Finding music in newsgroups

etc...

Obviously there'll be music, but I think there should be a good portion of talk radio that is interesting and useful to the jam community. Also, a jamcast will also be my prime excuse for jumping in the the Mac world.

I've been shopping the iMac's lately. It'll be great for my photography and finally editing down my skydive video and working with music from the basement.

Ok, so there is not enough time to do everything, but what the hell?