Thinking About Podcasts

I’ve been thinking about podcasts lately. Not of actually doing them–I loathe the sound of my recorded voice, and I have enough of that I have to listen to when I’m prepping my lectures for assorted online classes–but I guess I’m wondering about how popular they are. I mean, I know they are popular.  ITunes is covered with them.  In our ipod/mp3 player world where we’d rather plug in than carry on a conversation with a real human being, people clearly listen to them.

I…don’t.

Don’t get me wrong.  I listen to stuff.  Audiobooks all the time.  Pandora.  Occasionally the radio if I’m in my car at some other time than peak advertising hour.  But lately I’ve noticed some of the blogs I read either offering a podcast version of the post or basically making a brief intro post saying what the podcast is about.   I have never clicked to listen to the podcast. Why?  Because I read really fast.  I can’t make a podcaster speak faster.  Part of my morning routine during breakfast and the morning bootup at work is to zip through my bloglines.  I can usually tell my skimming whether I’m going to find a post interesting or useful, and I often skip stuff based on that.

I can’t skim a podcast. That’s more of a time investment than I want to make.  There are no nice, highlighted key phrases to draw the eye from beginning to end that follow all the principles of good blogging (which I often don’t here).  I’ve tried listening to podcasts before.  Katie MacAlister does one, and I find her hilarious.  I’ve still never listened to more than a few.  Maybe that makes me an anomaly.   I don’t like talk radio either.  If someone is talking, I want to hear fiction (hence the audiobooks), otherwise, there better be music, darn it!

Q4U: So am I the exception or the rule?  Tell me, readers, do you listen to podcasts?

13 thoughts on “Thinking About Podcasts

  1. I only listen to Zoe Winters’ podcasts. Part of it is because it’s almost like being around her, and I haven’t seen her in awhile. So sometimes it’s just to hear a voice and feel like you’re actually there with the person. Even if you don’t know them personally, you can get a different feel for them by hearing their voice rather than just looking at words. Also, I can listen to one of her podcasts while I’m doing something at work when I can’t actually read. I’m a multi-tasker and can’t stand to do only one thing at a time. LOL

    BTW, I also listen to audio books in the car because driving bores me to tears! 🙂

    1. In my particular line of work, I can’t usually listen to anything I have to pay attention to or I won’t pay attention to the actual WORK!

  2. Nope. I don’t listen to podcasts either and I think you hit the nail on the head as to why. Can’t skim.

      1. I am. And it’s the kind of thing I MIGHT listen to while I was cooking or something, but I am too often competing with the TV in the other room or whatever.

  3. No I don’t

    Because of what you said.

    Exactly what you said.

    No speed control. No time management options.

    They really should offer transcripts or summaries.

    I suppose it would work for listening while driving – “dead” time anyway – but I don’t have an MP3 player and burning a podcast to CD is too much like work 🙁

    -Steve

    1. Yeah and beyond that, who wants to waste a CD on something you’re only gonna listen to once?

      Plus, I live 2 miles from work. Hard to get up much steam on the 5 minute drive. And before any urbanite who lives somewhere with sidewalks can suggest it, there’s a major highway on the way and the heat index was 101 yesterday. I’m DEFINITELY not walking it.

  4. I am a notorious skimmer. Podcasts are fairly dull under normal circumstances. But a podcast of a blog? No way in hell.

    I used to have one author on my reader then she turned her blog into a “vlog” (video blog). Sorry to say, the lady is not nearly as entertaining as she thinks she is.

    Audiobooks are a different story (pardon the pun). Sometimes I have long drives and I enjoy having someone telling me a story.

    1. Oh man, vlogs are a whole other arena of I’m so not gonna go there. I hate the way that I look when I Skype with my friends and their babies (all my honorary nieces and nephews). Why in God’s name would I subject myself (or anybody else) to all the STUPID faces I apparently make when I talk? During one of my graduate school practica, I had to video tape myself doing therapy with clients. It was a very–illuminating–experience. Evidently when I’m nervous I scratch my head like a freaking monkey. I never realized HOW MUCH I talk with my hands. It made me horribly paranoid! Nope, I’ll never vlog…

  5. I like to listen to audiobooks while I clean. But I prefer a full audiobook. Still, there seems to be an audience for podcasted fiction and I plan to do it for Blood Lust.

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