podCALGARY

Global television recently launched podcasts of local news coverage from Calgary. Previously the national broadcaster offered just one feed, from Toronto, audio only. Now it has 14 separate feeds from across the country and two of them are from Calgary!

Global was very considerate of the audience offering the same programming in both audio only & video formats. I own a video iPod myself but opted for the audio feed so I can listen to the show during my commute.

Making local news content available on demand is a big step for broadcasters in our community. Could this take away from the traditional viewing audience? No – not significantly anyway. It will help them grow new audience and they will discover this like every independent podcaster that has come before them.

I believe that a significant portion of the audience core will completely transition away from traditional broadcastings in favor of on demand network technologies. But the infrastructure and user adoption are still several years away from being popular on mass. However, it is worth noting that Global Calgary is already prepared to serve those needs now.

Welcome Global Calgary to this medium we call podcasting. We’re proud to have you pioneering with us.

- Doug Nouwen

The Global News Hour Podcast (Audio)

The Global News Hour Podcast (Video)

It comes as no surprise to us here at podCALGARY cause we were behind him the whole way, but we still want to say a big congrats to Jeremy Z for coming in 4th in the recent race for the Mayor of Calgary. (Jeremy was the only canditate to be listed in the podCALGARY directory. ) There was a huge gap between 1st and 4th place, actually, the was a huge gap between 1st and second place, but you need to put it into perspective. Dave the incumbent had around 60% of the votes and Jeremy brought in about 4%. Third place, Sandy Jenkins, pulled in 8%. But the interesting story here is with 2and place (18%) Alnoor, who spent 1.2 million on his campaign. I haven’t confirmed this but I a confident that Jeremy spent less than 100 000.00 on his campaign. So there you go, you can spend 1.2 million and come in second, or you can podcast and come in forth, either way you don’t get to wear the Mayor hat, but if you podcast you will save at least 1.1 million.

Seriously, great run Jeremy.

Daryl Cognito

It’s official, ladies and gentlemen. on October 31, 2007, Yahoo will cease it’s ‘Yahoo Podcasts‘ directory indefinitely. While that may not mean a lot to you - as you’re already subscribed to the two best podcasts in Calgary - it certainly means a lot to the rest of the podcasting world.

After iTunes, Google, Odeo, the Podcast Pickle, Podcast Alley, Digg, CanadaPodcasts.ca, and Pluggd, Yahoo Podcasts was the premier Podcast directory in which average listeners could discover and critique independent podcasts.
What does that mean in the long run? Well, not much, if taken at face value. But, if you consider Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Jaiku, De.licio.us, PodFeed, and the numerous other digital networking tools at our disposal, it means we’re - approximately - seven per cent worse off than we were yesterday.

Seven per cent doesn’t sound like a lot, but take this into consideration. Seven is a prime number. Not only that, but it’s also the number of Atlas‘ daughters, the atomic number of Nitrogen, and the code for international direct dial phone calls to Russia and Kazakhstan.

In all seriousness, Yahoo was one of the few directories that had the potential to cater to a mainstream audience - a ‘flashing 12‘ crowd, as some may say, and it’s disturbing to see the service fold at such crucial time for the medium.

The merger between Sirius and XM Satellite radio is looming; the number of active founding podcasts is diminishing, and a large majority of newer shows are struggling to compete with the rest of the online world. Yahoo Podcasts was one of the few (see: the above list) directories that could have been a household name.

What about the little guy? At this point, it doesn’t mean much. The issue will arise when CBC, CNN, CNBC, and all of the other C-words begin taking notice. The fact remains: Yahoo Podcasts was yet another community-supported, yet corporately-ignored, podcast directory that has fallen by the wayside - laying in the wake for its peers.

- Sean “Ajay” Joyner

A good friend asked:

About the new iPod touch and the iPhone… Do you think that these devices are revolutionary and innovative? Or are they simply just a way to sell more content.

Case in point, the wifi iTunes store is a stripped down store allowing purchase only. No podcast updating. Apple could have easily put iTunes on the phone and touch. This would have allowed syncing podcasts on the go and would have lead to some really innovative uses of RSS. Instead Apple crippled the features.

When considering the iPhone and iPod I do not think of them being innovative. MP3 players and multifunction phones have been around for a while and Apple wasn’t the first to bring these to market much like Henry Ford didn’t invent the automocar. But the way they marketed this and, most importantly, improved and simplified functionality for average users or the “computer illiterate” was revolutionary! And like Henry Ford it has brought them great success.

So how then does this new WiFi iTunes store rate with me? I’d call this a first step. Henry Ford said, “you can have a Model-T in any colour you like - as long as it’s black.” Here - Apple is doing the same: offering just one service and testing the water. This is new ground not just for them but for many users too. Perhaps some of us think of ourselves as advanced users or well ahead of the user ship curve but it’s within that curve that things are most likely possible and profitable. If the masses don’t opt into these services or even find them practical then they are not profitable and can not likely be maintained.

For that reason I’m not surprised that the current WiFi iTunes store offering is so limited. But looking back over the evolution of the iPod, the internet and the way we use technology - I have every faith that this too will change and for the better …and sooner then we think!

By overcoming the lack of understanding around this type of technology we can demonstrate to others that this is more than a fad or novelty and that there are some practical applications for this technology that can assist you in your day to day life.

-Doug Nouwen