What is a podcast?

Think of a podcast as a radio or TV show on the Internet that is automatically

sent to you whenever a new episode is published. Once you receive a podcast,

you can listen to or watch it on your iPod, portable player, desktop computer

or laptop. It’s your choice.

How long are they? How often do they come out?

Podcast episodes range from a minute to over 30 minutes. Some podcast

shows come out daily, some weekly or monthly, and others whenever the

publisher feels like it. The best way to receive a podcast is to subscribe to

what is called the podcast feed. (For those more familiar with the technology,

this is called an RSS feed, which stands for Real Simple Syndication).

How do I subscribe to one?

You will need to download and install free “podcatching” software on your

computer. Some of the more popular podcatching programs are: iTunes,

MyYahoo, MyMSN and iPodder.

What if I don’t have an iPod?

However, you don’t need to have this software or an iPod to enjoy a

podcast. You can click and play the podcast right on the Web site, and

then listen and watch on your computer. You can download each

episode and then watch or listen on your media player of choice. Or

you can subscribe to an e-mail alert that automatically sends you an

e-mail every time a new podcast episode is available.

Where can I get more information?

Wikipedia has an excellent writeup on podcasting, plus it has links to

several popular podcast portals as well as software downloads.