Drug-casting

In a news release that isn't nearly as bad as my title may suggest, the pharmaceutical companies will start to create video podcasts to provide drug information to doctors.

They came to this conclusion after research showed that drug presentations lasted on average 40 minutes or less, and phone calls between doctors and sales reps averaged three minutes or less.

If any audience is harder to reach than doctors, I don't know who it is--maybe the president. So a podcast is the best way to reach them, because it is on-demand. The doctor decides when to be reached.

Northstreams knows all about the benefits of podcasting, contact them for more details.

The iPod and The President

What would a blog be without a reference to the president?
Bush: The government developed the iPod.

Here's another interesting example of where basic research can help change quality of life or provide practical applications for people. The government funded research in microdrive storage, electrochemistry and signal compression. They did so for one reason: It turned out that those were the key ingredients for the development of the Ipod. I tune into the Ipod occasionally, you know? (Laughter.) Basic research to meet one set of objectives can lead to interesting ideas for our society. It helps us remain competitive.

- President Bush at Tuskegee University, April 19, 2006

Every now and then these government types do something right, but the president admitted they need to do a better job. This blogger muses that the president's next step should be to help correct the display problems delaying the release of the new widescreen iPod.

That may not be in the president's mandate, but Joni Mitchell is in the president's play list.

The president already has a podcast, so he might as well have an iPod.

CD-DVD Duplication

CD-DVD DuplicationDuplication
A duplicated CD or DVD that has been burned. This means the data has been programed onto the disk by a computer. Duplication's advantage is that it is quick and economical for small projects.

Duplicated disks have the problem of not being compatible with some players. This is because some machines cannot read the encoding of the disk. This usually occurs on older machines and is not a problem on newer machines.

25 million podcast users?!

The Pod BlogThat's the word from Libsyn, a company that hosts podcasts. These numbers were for the first quarter of 2006. This is an increase of 200% from the fourth quarter of 2005! Unreal.

The numbers are a little suspect, because it includes all visitors to Libsyn's site who is requesting podcasts and RSS info. So the numbers may be skewed, or, as the podcasting news suggests, the criteria may be "liberal", it still shows the boom in podcasting. No wonder the advertisers and major networks are jumping on board.

Northstreams offers hosting, but it will be a while before 25 million people access their site. But you must learn to walk, before you fly.

Online Media: The Coming Monolith

The Pod Blog
There is a growing consensus that online media is going to change the way media operates. Once considered an alternative source of media, more and more of the traditional media are adapting online techniques. "2006 will be a tipping point for online media" points to the steady adoption of broadband Internet access as the catalyst for this change.

Put simply, broadband means faster downloading times. This makes large files, such as video, faster and easier to download. Online video is becoming a standard element of major media - especially the major American television networks, and the New York Times.

Not wanting to waste an advertising opportunity, the networks--and advertisers--realize the potential online audience is enormous, and see online advertising as a match made in heaven. As mentioned in the April 11 post on The Pod Blog, Forbes reports advertising profits from podcasting are going to explode.

The investment in podcasting and podcast advertising points to the logical conclusion that podcasting--and the options created by podcasting--are setting the standard for the future.

Learning to podcast

The Pod Blog
This blog for the mostpart has talked about the developments in podcasting. For some reason it has avoided the obvious step of telling everyone how to make a podcast! So here it goes, sort of, instead we will point you where to go.

Here is a pretty good introductory guide to everything you need to know about making a podcast. Unfortunately, it mainly covers audio podcasting.

A great guide to video podcasting, in the convenient form of a video podcast is made by French Maid TV. This one has everything you need to know, and it is probably the most entertaining guide out there.

But, in order to have a podcast you need to have a host. There are lots out there, and all of them cost money. Metered service means that you pay the more popular your podcast, the more you pay. Unmetered service means you pay a flat rate for the host. Northstreams offers unmetered service for both audio and video podcasts, so if you're interested, it's worth giving them a look.

The Pod Blog

The Pod Blog
Northstreams isn't the only fish in the sea. But it is alone in the Greater Toronto Area. As this article says, podcasting provides an unbelievable business tool.

Staff training, demonstrations, instructional video are made available without having to co-ordinate staff all in one place. Podcasting saves time, and makes communications easier. But the biggest challenge facing podcasting is that it is so new. Getting over that hump is the biggest challenge.

Podcasting is the mainstream

The Pod Blog
On the heals of a report that advertising in podcasting is expected to explode, it appears that the major American networks are all but jumping on the video podcasting bandwagon.

Many networks have started offering audio podcasts (with in the past few months, but now the Big Boys have entered the video podcasting realm. In May ABC will start to offer four shows to be downloaded free for 2 months. It has had its shows available on iTunes for a price $1.99.

Robert Iger, president and CEO of Walt Disney Co., said he did not want his television company to suffer the same fate as the music industry, which was left in tatters by free downloading.

The ABC shows will have advertisements in the shows that cannot be fast-forwarded. So that's where the ad-boom will come from.

How will this impact the small-time video podcast makers? Chances are this will be a great benefit, if more people start to download shows, the more they will look for other shows. If there's nothing on, you click through the channels to look for something else. That's the beauty of TV and the Internet.

Profit from podcasting advertising expected to boom!

The Pod Blog
A sure sign of a success is advertising revenues. Forbes reports that a research firm named PQ Media has released a report suggesting that revenue podcasting advertising will increase by 154 per cent by 2010! Podcasting revenues in 2005 totaled $3.1 million. On the heals of this announcement came news that the shares of Audible, an online audio company rose 10 per cent. For the moment, all seems well in the world of advertising. But when was that never the case?

More Podcasting in Education

The Pod BlogIt seems like every day, another college or university is jumping on podcasting.
To help everyone access educational podcasts, an online network has developed, which -surprisingly enough- is called The Educational Podcast Network. What this network does is provide a listing of a number of educational podcasts. The network is small but is still growing. Would something like this even existed two years ago?