On podcasting: “Sorry Adam, Dave, Doc, and Dan, but I hate podcasting. It’s a total waste of my time to listen to something when I could read it.” — Hack the Planet.
I agree and yet I completely disagree. While I can get far more information quickly and easily via NetNewsWire and reading in place (I keep current on over 200 sites daily), I do get a lot out of the podcasting as well. I’m sitting here listening to back Daily Source Codes and most of what I am hearing are things I doubt Adam would ever blog. Some are anecdotes about his MTV years, some are random stories of life in Belgium and others are thoughts on the media, politics, Macs, the tech industry, etc. What he normally blogs are short snippets. What he discusses in the Daily Source Code are involved, and have a lot of depth to them. Perhaps given his background, that makes sense. Someone who’s been a writer their entire life might do terrible podcasts. But in this case, I doubt I’d get this interesting content any other way.
That said, I also agree in that the rise of podcasts means I will get less and less content. I only have a small window of time in my busy life to actually listen to these things. I’ve already unsubscribed from everything except Curry’s because I just don’t have the time. My commute has gone from 70-80 minutes on a bus/train each way to 30 minutes in a car with my neighbor where sitting under headphones would be rude. And once I’m home, I’m daddy and there’s just no time until late at night for things iPod. And at work, I can only handle music, not voice. So, this is of limited use to me in the long run. And given how much of Curry’s podcasts that are focused on the mechanics of podcasting, I am not even sure why I am so into listening to them. Maybe they’re new. Maybe I’m just starving for interesting radio (my neighbor surfs the morning shows in the car on the rides in and I’ve learned first hand just how utterly horrible radio has gotten). It’s hard to say. But I am both fascinated by them and annoyed by them.
So, I agree and disagree with the sentiment.