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I'd like to add my half a cent...
There isn't any bandwidth information next to the podcasts. This makes it very nasty for people who live in countries where bandwidth is NOT free.
I live in South Africa. I operate off a package that allows me one gigabyte of bandwidth traffic. Once I go over that limit, I pay through the eyeballs!
So... how about an ultra-low resolution option for non-Americans?
Blue skies
love
Roy
Podcasts are for times when you are listening to your iPod and not in front of your computer. For instance, when you are exercising, or driving your car, or walking around town.
But, it is something I'd like to do, if only to make it easier to use Google to find podcasts.
Cellular operators around the world are very interested in mobile TV. (I even started a new weblog to cover it.)
Think about a package of three to five minute shows packaged around a specific topic.
This is just the tip of the mobile TV iceberg and you might consider getting a handhold on the ice!
I am glad that you have considered a smaller (in file size)version for those people with bandwidth caps. In New Zealand its the same.
I thought if podcasts are going to kick off in these countries you would have to either have the podcasts smaller so that they have enough capacity or have bigger bandwidth.
In regards to transcripts, while I agree with no transcripts, its still a good idea to have shownotes. On podtech its just a exercept, but if you have a look at the other podcasts, some have simple show notes in the blog post with linka to particular points of interest. Some even have wikis for the finer details.
Through this blog, I think you'll get a lot of feedbackthat will make podtech.net a better site to visit. keep up the good work
My read is you need to categorise your 23 things, seems to me it's really 2 or 3, each with components.
- Web Site Navigition.
- Using Pods.
- Pod Search
It's to hard to use currently, but it has the content :), not a bad place to be IMHO.
And yes, this Flash 8 specialtitly of stopping to play / load when they don't have focus is really annoying. I hope there is an option somewhere to turn that off.
I like to hear people reporting tech stuff in a more passionate way. When I listen to (or watch) podcasts I'm motivated by the host's motivation and the fact that the opinions are unfiltered. Otherwise I might as well be reading copy on the websites of the companies that are talking on PodTech.
As I said in my post I look forward to hearing (and seeing) what's new with PodTech when you start exerting your might influence on the efforts taking place there.
One item I'd like to see there is an ability to rate podcasts - so if I think a podcast is particularly good, I can give it a 5/5, for example. Then when I come to the site, I can look for higher rated podcasts to listen to.
I personally don't think it will even make it out of the port, burn rate to the bottom. The tech is already a commodity, and nothing much here that all these lazy companies can't do on their own in time. In short, you are paying quadruple for some hypespinner Silicon Valley start-up to do it for you.
Nothing wrong with corporate, but boring is always a killer. The geek stuff is wild crazy nuthead college-film-school-quality-enthusiast style, making it forever small small niched. But the corporate stuff is bland, like a Video Press Release. To really get results? Think in terms of the Educational Documentary, over the corporate talking head or the geeky MTV short-attention span. Release a product, do a History Channel style productional kick up, don't leave it to the shaky cam vbloggers. The problem tho? Podcasts will become infomercials if you aren't careful. The geeks are too well...geeky, and the corporates are too cement-headed dry, the key is a Discovery Channel style about it all.
And what makes a Podcast a podcast? Just a reduced frame low-res .avi with syncing? Big deal. Sync (poor quality video at that) is not a revolution, it's simply distribution. Just think in terms of VIDEO in all forms as a method...DVD/VCD, AVI/MOV, 3GP/3G2, Podcasts - whatever...
I'll be direct. I think you are making a profound, life-plunging mistake by leaving Microsoft, for at least three reasons:
(1) You had a job you loved at Microsoft. That is a treasure, a bird in the hand, that should not be given up except in exchange for a truly exceptional offer.
(2) Microsoft as a company is at the trough of the wave and at the beginning of its "up" cycle. Exactly the wrong time to leave.
(3) Your critique of Podtech's website is spot on. Because so much is so fundamentally wrong with the website -- and how directly that speaks to the quality of the company! -- I am queasy about the choice you have made.
In the end, these are for me the undeniable facts:
Channel9.msdn.com is a fascinating website. I will visit it many times in the future.
By contrast, I doubt I will ever spend even a moment on the podtech website. (It IS boring, like the reviewer said!)
Nonetheless, I wish you the best of luck.
Joe
But, I'm more creatively alive right now than I have been in months. So, that alone tells me I made the right decision.
Funny enough I had the same advice going into Microsoft. Heheh.