Podcasting is better than TiVo’ing

Yes, I’m supposed to be finishing a feature article for MacAddict right now, but I had this thought and simply had to share it. If your next issue is a day or two late in the mail, don’t blame them, blame me. 🙂

Many folks have compared Podcasting to TiVo, saying it’s “TiVo for Radio.” I think I’ve even been guilty of this comparison. And it’s correct… to a point. But it just hit me that it misses a VERY key aspect of podcasting. TiVo, while allowing you to timeshift your *viewing* of the content, still requires you to decide that you want to watch a given show before it airs, schedule TiVo to record it, then watch it on your own schedule. While that works fine for things like Season Passes to shows you watch all the time, what about the water cooler conversation when one of your co-workers says, “Hey, did you catch that new show, 30 days?” If you didn’t, and if you hadn’t told TiVo to get it for you, you’re outta luck. However, if someone says, “Hey, did you catch the latest episode of The Mac Geek Gab?”, you can simply point your podcatcher at it and download it… and likely download *every* past episode, too, regardless of when it aired.

This is a huge difference. In fact, I was just thinking that this is a fantastic way to find information. If you have a podcast that teaches something, well, you can peruse the show notes *first*, then decide if you want to listen to the show.

So don’t forget it. 🙂

4 Responses to “Podcasting is better than TiVo’ing”

  1. brent Says:

    I just emailed you via mac geek gab about how pcasting is better than TIVO 🙂 Now I’m reading your blog and realized you reached the same conclusion. I guess the corollary problem with pcasting archives is that you get dated responses about old shows.

  2. brent Says:

    I just emailed you via mac geek gab about how pcasting is better than TIVO 🙂 Now I’m reading your blog and realized you reached the same conclusion. I guess the corollary problem with pcasting archives is that you get dated responses about old shows.

  3. Dave Says:

    LOL, indeed. Doing the podcast has actually been an interesting experience in that regard. We do wind up getting comments about older shows. Of course, we’re only a few months in with our show, so nothing is horribly dated (yet!), but that will likely come in the future… it’s certainly a fascinating phenominon!

  4. Dave Says:

    LOL, indeed. Doing the podcast has actually been an interesting experience in that regard. We do wind up getting comments about older shows. Of course, we’re only a few months in with our show, so nothing is horribly dated (yet!), but that will likely come in the future… it’s certainly a fascinating phenominon!

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