Can I get a witness? PODCASTS SUCK. They’re practically the worst thing to happen to the Web. I don’t know about you, but I read pretty fast. And what’s more, I can skim something that’s written.
Podcasts, though? You’ve got to pretty much focus your whole attention on them. You can’t skip around at all. No pictures. And you can’t just grab a whole pile of them and then listen without spending basically your whole day.
Maybe I’m a visually focused freak, but damn, I hate podcasts.
The only podcast I’ve ever really enjoyed is Coverville, and it’s about music, which is good, because it makes it more of a radio show than something I wish I could be skimming instead.
I get the feeling you’re posting this because of the Gamer Andy Crackdown podcast. Which I forced myself to listen to. And wished I had the 66 minutes or so back. You know a podcast is going on too long when the hosts make reference to going on for too long.
I really like Glenn Reynolds from Instapundit so I’ve downloaded his podcasts a few times hoping they would be good.
They’re just almost impossible to listen to and I don’t know why. When I compare podcasts to radio, say NPR or something, it’s stunning how bad they are in comparison.
Please, a “podcast” is just an audio file. Direct your hate where it belongs-- at the people who create them. They are of the same ilk who put sweaters on their cats.
A podcast is an audio file created by podcasters, 99% of whom SUCK. Therefore my hate is VERY PROPERLY directed, thank you.
Plus, what can I say, I read MUCH faster than podcasters talk, so I just don’t have the TIME to listen to these people blather and fripper and squawk and POOT.
Sure, some people do. More power to them. But it’s like nails on a fucking chalkboard for me. I can feel my life draining away while listening to the “Huh! Huh huh huh!”
Maybe I just lack the ability to listen with only half my attention. I also can’t sleep if I can hear people talking. My hearing is bad, so perhaps I have to spend too much mental energy on trying to follow what people are saying. That might explain why other people seem to be able to listen to podcasts while doing other things, which is a skill I do not seem to possess.
There are only a few podcasts I like. Most of the ones I like are done by people who have done radio and TV in the past.
Mainly, I just listen to Leo Laporte and his motley crew of ex-TechTV people over at TWiT.
I listened to Science Friday, and that was pretty good. I listened to the Battlestar Galactica Podcasts and those are good.
I tried listening to the Penny Arcade podcast and that was a little amusing, but that’s the lowest that I ever went.
VGN radio was funny for a while, until it really became clear that the only person that cared was Kevin and that the other 2 guys were just literally, phoning it in every week. I mean, not being hardcore gamers, ok, fine, but not playing anything besides World of Warcraft gets really old. I feel sorry for Kevin. You hear that Kevin?
I think liking or hating podcasts has to do with the podcasts you listen to.
Outside of NPR’s The Unger Report, I have no use for any “guys talking” podcasts.
Instead, I’m a fan of music podcasts. That is to say, podcasts with new music in them, not ones “about” music: A Brobdingnagian Minute, Magnatune’s “After 1800” Classical podcast, Industrial Radio Podcast. I get to hear my best friend perform live (since I never see him any more), I get to hear some occasionally decent classical performances, and music from -new- industrial bands.
Podcasts are just radio shows on demand. It turns out, surprise, surprise, that not everyone can do radio. I think the Jeremy Williams produced podcasts (PC Gamer, Next Gen) are good enough to be listenable, but yeah there are some (ok, many) on topics I like that are just unlistenable. Sure you can digest info faster by reading, but you won’t get anything from a transcript of a Ricky Gervais podcast, while the mp3 is great.
Yeah I’m digging the free TAL feed. I never used to catch it on the radio. I don’t know what podcasts you guys are referring to, but the type of stuff I generally listen to aren’t equivalent to anything you would get by reading or skimming or whatever. Either they have a heavy audio component like TAL or they involve a group discussion like 1UP Yours. The closest thing to a reading equivalent are talks, maybe, stuff you find at sites like http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail252.html and there too the audio is a lot richer than the text. The human voice has a lot more bandwidth than the written word.
With more than 10 hours of commuting every week, podcasts are heavenly. Sometimes I stay in the car after I’m finished driving to hear the end of a show.
I haven’t heard NPR on the wireless in over a year, but I get NPR produced podcasts all the time.
It’s great if you find one that really hits your niche.
