Podcast Haiku

As I mentioned in a previous post, I recently acquired my first real MP3 player.  I’ll mostly spare you from the horrid details of my problems with the Zune MP3 player that I purchased first… let’s just say the Microsoft proprietary software you are forced to use to sync your files with the player has a long way to go to reach a level of acceptable user friendliness. I took it back and picked up an 8GB Sony (Walkman) MP3 player; the same brand and type my husband has.  And now, a haiku, to express my love for this new gadget.

Ode to my Sony MP3 Player

Thanks Sony player
Music, podcasts, video
Doesn’t suck like Zune

And now, I want to point out the highlighted word in my haiku that inspired today’s post. Podcasts. This is a fairly new concept for me; digital media in a series, web syndicated.  Like a radio show, but broadcasted online for you to download and put on your MP3 player and listen on the go. And when I started looking around for knitting related podcasts, I was overwhelmed by just how many podcasts there are out there for just about anything and everything you can imagine.  Some series are updated weekly, monthly, and in each little segment or show, there’s obviously a main topic related to the subject of the podcast that gets discussed. I don’t know why it never really occured to me to listen to podcasts before; perhaps it has to do with the fact I’ve never owned a portable media device before. I know that’s not a requirement since you can just listen on the web, but using a portable digital media device is where it’s at. I can take the Cast On podcast (knitting) or Epic Dolls podcast (gaming) with me wherever I go and get updated on new segments in the series just like I do with bloggers out there like the Yarn Harlot or KnitPurlGurl that I follow with Google Reader, for example. KnitPurlGurl has her own mom and fiber podcast, too. I find this whole thing fascinating. And I also feel a little noobish that I’m so late to the game on this.

Check out what I’m listening to and see my subscriptions, add me as a friend, or suggest podcasts you think I’d be interested in over at Podcast.com! I don’t use iTunes, as much as it’s promoted and hyped up, because when I tried to browse podcasts there it wanted me to download and install the iTunes app to use like a “store’ to shop for things instead. I don’t want to add more proprietary software to my computer; that was my main problem with the Microsoft Zune. If I can’t browse and download your selections online (via website, and not an additional required application that connects to a website) to then just drag and drop onto my MP3 player, I’m not interested.  I don’t need another media player on my computer and I don’t have an actual iPod to sync, so it’s all pointless to me. But I digress.

If you have any podcast goodness you think I should be listening to, let me know! :)