Schinckel.net

Dear ABC, As a new listener to Podcasts, I want to congratulate you on firstly the number, but also the quality of the programming you have put online. It is nice to be able to listen to programs I haven’t heard since I only had a car with an AM radio on Radio National, like the Science Show. Now that I commute on public transport, it’s also nice to be able to download programs that are transmitted in times when I am working,and listen to them as I travel. I understand that it’s a relatively new technology, but I do have some suggestions that would make, in my mind, your Podcasting service even better. Firstly, reduce the file size. Using other codecs, such as AAC, even in addition to MP3 would mean that the bitrate can be reduced, and I can more easily download more Podcasts over dialup. Secondly, I think the term Podcast is being used incorrectly in some contexts. You talk about listeners Pod_casting, when they are really Pod_catching - not that there is actually a word that is used in this context. The creator/distributor/broadcaster does the Pod_casting_, and listeners ‘catch’ that ‘cast. Perhaps a new word needs to be created to fill this void. Finally, I’d like to see a more comprehensive archive of Podcasts. As a public broadcaster, anything that does not have copyright restrictions elsewhere, like most of the music that is played on Classic FM, for instance, should be freely available to all Australians for eternity. The Internet is a great thing in this context. Regards, Matt.