I received a gift his week that has expanded my understanding of RSS feeds/readers: my very own ipod! It ‘s like my very first bicycle- it’s exciting and offers amazing possibilities, but I can’t take advantage of all it offers until I know how to use it… and it is a steep learning curve for this “digital immigrant”(Marc Prensky coined a term I use a lot these days).
What I’ve learned (by trial and error, so please correct me if I’m wrong) is that to subscribe to a podcast is the same process as subscribing to any RSS feed. The difference is the reader. Instead of using an RSS reader such as Google reader, the podcast is “fed” each week to iTunes. From iTunes I can “sync” (I think that’s a download) it into my ipod for listening whenever I want. So iTunes is another type of RSS reader, it seems. I don’t see the red RSS symbol anywhere in this process, but the “subscribe” command seems to be synonymous. I tried to find verification of this revolutionary discovery, and didn’t have much luck searching “podcast how-to’s” in google or youtube, so I’m asking my blog buddies- is iTunes an RSS reader?
For example, I want to listen to NPR's "Wait Wait, don't tell me"every week, but never catch it on the radio. I go to the podcast section of the itunes store, and choose it. There are recent episodes listed (which I could download), as well as a "subscribe" box. If I click the "subscribe" box, a text box tells me I will receive the most recent episode, and the newest episode each week will be sent to my podcast library in itunes. Itunes then stores the show for me until I put it into my MP3 player to listen, or I can listen to it directly from my computer. That's just the way the NYT feeds news to Google reader for me everyday. The difference is the name of the RSS Reader, and the format of the information- one is all visual text, the other is all audio. If I had a screen on my ipod, I could subscribe to TV shows, and have a video RSS feed as well. Until this week, I didn't realize the different applications of the RSS technology- it's not just for PC viewing, but for more personal mobile devices, too. How cool is that??
It’s fun to be learning how to use all these new ICTs- I’d never take the time to do this if I weren’t forced to explore them in this class. Some ICTs will be an everyday tool for me, and others I may not ever use again, but at least I know what they are, just in case. Hopefully, like riding a bike, I won’t forget how to use blogs, RSS feeds, IM, wikis, etc. once I’ve practiced a little.
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3 comments:
You understand the "subscribe" function correctly, it's just like the RSS. You'll now have Wait Wait waiting for you each week without having to go download it each week.
What a time saver? I wish I could do that with newspapers. I only read on line now unless I get the paper for free. I probably only read 5-10% of the paper, just what interests me, what a waste. Some say I don't read the paper unless I read everything, it's not a novel. Anyways out with the old and in with the new.
I've never had an ipod so I am not quite familiar with how it works. But based on your description, I think it works under the same principle of RSS reader, just in a different medium. "subscribe" is a word used frequently on the internet. I subscribed to a publisher on Youku (a Chinese video site, kinda like Youtube), every week a new episode of CSI NY will be added to my playlist.
Honestly Ellie, I have an Ipod, I subscribed some podcasts, however never across my mind that it actually works like RSS. :( Maybe because I am not regularly listen to my podcast updates. Therefore I haven't feel the benefits it gives me, just like how RSS benefits me. I somehow miss the connection. :( So, thank you, your experience helps me reflect and evaluate my own RSS (and Podcast) experience.
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