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Tech OverloadNo Skimming Zone

November 11, 2004

I'm reading Dave Winer's post on why he won't provide any metadata let alone transcripts of his podcasts. Steve Gillmor has come to the same conclusion. The reason why? "NO SKIMMING ALLOWED", they don't want you skimming through their podcast.

Skimming reduces the power of your intellect from recognizing the cues of emerging disruptive technologies to missing the point - Steve Gillmor

Sound to me like a warning on the evils of masturbation. Don't skim son or you'll soon start missing the point. Someone has missed the point here.

I find this to be a very strange thing indeed. That the origins of RSS and aggregators was to be able to skim through all the news to find the stuff that interested you. Remember who's the Big Daddy of RSS? Now the true meaning of RSS comes out. RSS has been reduced to being a carrier for downloading audio at night when you asleep or reading but not skimming.

Well I guess what Dave and Steve are saying is that it is important to listen to each and every one of their podcasts, unless of course you are deaf, in which case either Steve and Dave or the deaf are not important.

Here are some things that are missed by not providing at least an outline of what a podcast is about.

  1. There is no search feature to point to which of a hundred podcasts was about that phone that you wanted to buy.
  2. The start of a podcast leaves no indication of what is at the end of the podcast.
  3. There is no link love in someone mumbling dbludbludbluimafreekdotcom

Posted by jr at November 11, 2004 07:44 PM | Threads

Comments

Podcasting is this new word which is supposed to have deep wonderful and great meaning. Of course, to me it sounds like a term meaning the broadcast of a sci-fi movie from a while back (Body Snatchers, Cocoon, et al).

Store-and-retrieve technology is nothing new. Audio store and retreive is long active in on-line training and education. This concept is nothing new.

Except to "podcasters" in love with the sound of thier own voices.

I spent a lifetime in broadcasting. While I certainly recognize that change and context are different when using new technology, there are a bunch of truths and fact that remain important in any audio venture. Regularly scheduled releases (as in being scheduled and reliable), audience interest, freshness of program content; and some know-how in how to make the audience like it, and to maintain their interest and repeated visits/use/download (aka tuning in) to or of the product.

99% of the "gee, I just uploaded a podcast...am I cool or what?" types are well-intended early adopters joining the rush of a new thing. The good news is that most of them will abandon this as a regular procedure (since most people, frankly, don't know the how-to or the what-to when it comes to developing audio product). It takes more tech know-how and more time, it requires them to perform more as themselves than most might consider to be the case when they write.

And now this concept of "LISTEN TO IT ALL, OR LISTEN TO NOTHING" sounds like some lame Pod-Nazi demand. Imagine this: telling the user that they listen to it the producer's way, or not at all. So much for allowing users and the freedoms of new technology to move tings forward.

Oh look! I think we just witnessed a copy of Cluetrain falling out of a Pod-Nazicaster's pocket.

Posted by: Dean Landsman at November 13, 2004 10:16 PM

I think I'm missing the entire concept of podcasting in the first place. As if personal web sites weren't narcissistic enough (yes, I have a personal web site, or two), now people take the time to record unskimable podcasts, plus provide the bandwidth to download them.

Posted by: Joe at November 12, 2004 08:51 AM