PoducateMe: Practical Solutions for Podcasting in Education
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Alternative Podcatcher Features
While iTunes does a great job of podcatching, there are users who prefer alternative
programs, which may feature several desirable features absent from Apple’s client. Some
of these enhancements are pretty handy and include the following:
Ability to Download Files Via BitTorrent
In order to conserve bandwidth (which ain’t free), some podcasters will offer
BitTorrent downloading of their files. This works much like Napster and other peer-to-
peer (P2P) applications: instead of downloading a file from a central server, you
retrieve the file from multiple locations (namely, other people who have downloaded
the file).
Because BitTorrent downloads have not yet been widely understood or adopted by
the masses, podcasters generally avoid using them exclusively for distribution. In
addition, some ISPs block the download of torrent files in order to prevent the
unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material, such as films and music. However,
if a show becomes too popular for a podcaster to afford hosting (more downloads =
more use of bandwidth = more $), he might offer both standard and BitTorrent
download options or just BitTorrent downloads.
Ability to Subscribe to and Download News Feeds
Some podcatchers originated as news readers and later added support for podcast
retrieval. News readers can display news headlines and short descriptions of articles
through an RSS or Atom feed. The entire article can be read by clicking on a link in
the feed.
Built-in Web Browser
View Web pages directly in the application.
Ability to Schedule “Cleanups”
This feature enables per-podcast removal scheduling, or scheduling by date to purge
old podcasts from iTunes and your hard drive. This ability can be added to iTunes by
installing Wooden Brain Concepts’ shareware utility Cast Away ($7, Mac,
Table 1 lists several appealing alternatives to iTunes, with each offering some (if not all)
of the iTunes-lacking features detailed above. Each of the commercial podcatchers listed
offers a free trial period, allowing you to take the application for a spin before committing
with cash.
