The essential difference between web radio and podcasting is the RSS FEED.
- “How did the feed change things,” you ask?
Let’s use a food metphor to make this answer easier to digest:
Most people in urban communities enjoy eating-out from time to time.
Whether it’s the luxury of having a meal prepared for you or the novelty of eating a dish you’ve never tasted before, eating out is a worthwhile way to spend an evening.
Tastes vary from person to person: some like sushi, other like burgers and some even enjoy Ethiopian food.
In an urban metropolis that’s no problem: there is a restaurant for every palate and every taste can be satisfied.
You just have to figure out what you like and then find a restaurant that caters to your needs.
Once you find that restaurant, you’ll probably visit it frequently.
You will tell your friends about it and you’ll make an extra effort to go there when people suggest eating out.
You must be mindful of the restaurant’s schedule : maybe they’re closed on Mondays, perhaps they don’t serve lunch or maybe they only add new items to the menu on Thursdays.
You must abide by the rules of the kitchen if you want to enjoy the rewards, and if you’re aware of their schedule you won’t be disappointed.
Web radio programs are a lot like urban restaurants.
There are are hundreds of them all over the web, each featuring different music genres, topics of discussion, news stories and languages.
It takes some time to find the right one, but one once you’ve found it, you can visit your Web Radio program’s website every day and listen to new episodes as soon as you find them available.
However, like with a restaurant, you must to go to program’s website to check for new updates and ensure you get the content you want.
The addition of an RSS Feed is like throwing automatic delivery AND a cube freezer into the mix.
By signing-up to a feed, you’re basically telling your favorite restaurant that you like their food.
You like it so much you want it delivered to your doorstep as soon as it’s ready.
If it arrives when you’re hungry — GREAT! You can eat it right away.
If you’re not in the mood for Mexican on Monday, no problem: that’s what’s the freezer’s for. You can store the meal in the freezer until you’re ready to eat it.
You never have to visit the restaurant again, unless you want to cancel the deliveries, and it’s up to you what you eat, what you freeze and what you trash.
That’s the basic idea behind podcasting.
When you subscribe to an online radio show’s RSS feed, the audio content from that program is delivered directly to your computer as soon as it’s available.
You can subscribe to as many feeds as you want.
The only catch is finding enough time to listen to all your podcasts.
But that too is your decision: you can listen to your podcasts whenever, wherever and however you chose.
You can delete them at your leisure or archive them forever on CDs or external hard drives.
***A WARNING:***
Some items keep better than others.
Time-sensitive news programs are like fresh grapes: they tend to expire quickly.
You can preserve them and hope they turn into a fine wine: whetting appetites and bestiring nostalgia.
But they can also sour and fill your cellar with unwanted bottles of vinegar.
Still confused? Worry not: further help can be found online:
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