Mitchell Baker Quizzed on Mozilla Corporation (MozillaZine) [LWN.net]

MozillaZine points to an interview with Chief Lizard Wrangler Mitchell Baker. The interview focuses on the creation of the Mozilla Corporation, is available as a podcast or MP3 download.

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Er, podcast AND MP3 download?

Posted Aug 8, 2005 18:10 UTC (Mon) by crackmonkey (guest, #31592) [Link] (4 responses)

How exactly does a "podcast" differ from an "MP3 download"? I thought that "podcast" was just Doctorow-speak for "download a sound file from the Internet".

Er, podcast AND MP3 download?

Posted Aug 8, 2005 18:39 UTC (Mon) by proski (guest, #104) [Link] (3 responses)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting

Er, podcast AND MP3 download?

Posted Aug 8, 2005 22:54 UTC (Mon) by crackmonkey (guest, #31592) [Link] (2 responses)

Thanks. That article pretty much confirmed my definition of the term "podcast", but doesn't explain why the above text seems to distinguish it from an MP3 available for download.

Er, podcast AND MP3 download?

Posted Aug 9, 2005 5:55 UTC (Tue) by laidlaws (guest, #26237) [Link]

I really don't know either, but the Wikipedia description suggests that
podcasts have additional "packaging" to be recognized by the iPod, and
they can be any format, not just MP3s.

Doug.

Er, podcast AND MP3 download?

Posted Aug 9, 2005 8:17 UTC (Tue) by Duncan (guest, #6647) [Link]

From TFWA:

"Podcasting is distinct from other types of online media delivery because
of its subscription model, which uses a feed (such as RSS or Atom) to
deliver an enclosed file."

Thus, a "podcast" involves a subscription model delivered media file,
which can be MP3 or other format, video and/or audio. "And MP3" would
therefore specify that an MP3 file is also available for direct download,
and may or may not indicate the media type of the file delivered by the
podcast, likely but not necessarily the same file.

If one is writing for an audience assumed to be 100% "podcast enabled", or
at least 100% able to understand the podcast term, there'd generally be
little reason to say both podcast and mp3, unless for some reason the
media type of the podcast was in question. However, as demonstrated by
this thread, LWN readership can still be a bit confused on the topic, and
many, not knowing what a podcast is, may be turned away from actually
listening to the file. Adding the "and mp3" is thus more inclusive, as it
includes the "podcast illiterates" that know what mp3 is, but have no idea
what "podcast" really means.

BTW, I only know what "podcast" means myself, due to a couple LWN articles
on it in the weekly edition, a couple weeks ago. One week they covered
how to make them, the next week it was what sort of software was available
on Linux for subscribing to podcasts. Until that point, I was "podcast
illiterate" myself, and the fact of the matter is, while I now understand
the concept, I haven't loaded any podcasting software nor experienced it
in reality. I'll probably do so at some point, going back to lookup the
LWN articles to figure out which software I'll try, but I've yet to do so.

Duncan