Essentially, podcasting allows you to select the things you'd like to listen to, subscribe to them, have them downloaded to your computer or portable audio device, and listen to them when you want to. Once youve subscribed, they will update automatically for you, like a magazine you dont think about until the subscription arrives in your mailbox every month.

What is the advantage of a podcast over other types of broadcasting? Podcasts assimilate radio, portable CD players, and satellite radio, into one convenient format, and allow new uses not previously available. So what is it that you can listen to? What kinds of podcasting are available? The answer to those questions is this: everything you can possibly imagine! You will be amazed at the volume and variety of podcasts out there and the possibilities that exist.

Just as the Internet has allowed pretty much anybody to create visual files of information and entertainment, called web pages, podcasting has allowed virtually anybody to create audio files of information and entertainment. While the technical details are not important here, all someone needs in order to become a podcaster is a computer and an Internet hook-up. You dont even need a microphone to create your first podcast. (You may want to get one later, but you dont need one now). In fact, if you have a telephone and can browse the Internet, you will be able to listen to podcasts and even create your first podcast by the end of the next chapter!

Who can podcast? Anyone can podcast! Well go into much greater detail later about who might want to podcast, but generally speaking, there are several reasons why everyone would want to podcast:

Organizations like churches and nonprofits will podcast to keep people up to date with whats going on, providing news, seminars and speeches, meeting transcriptions, etc.

Businesses will podcast to maintain their name in the marketplace, offer information on products or strategies, and position themselves as the expert in their industry.

Individuals will podcast if they have something to say to the world. Opinions, rants, and artistic offerings are all fair game in podcasting.

Podcasting formats are as varied as the types of podcasts available. Some podcasts are like monologues where one person simply shares their ideas into a microphone for the listener to hear. Other podcasts are a dialogue between two or more people and may or may not follow format. Some podcasts are unscripted while others seem to be very scripted. Podcasting contain music, interviews, and while audio podcasts are quite popular now, audio/video podcasts are slowly gaining popularity as well.