Seminar 7 Review

We had a short but interesting seminar this week. We discussed podcasting and how it affects the businesses today. Who can utilize this new technology or platform to improve their standing in the market.

I was eagerly waiting for this seminar since I didn't know much about Podcasting. A 'podcast' is basically a media file that can be distributed over the Internet and can be played on mobile devices and computers. The biggest advantage of podcasts is it's portability and the possibility of interaction between the podcaster and the viewers.

The professor explained how the podcast is being used by numerous well know firms and companies both as a means of internal and external information distribution. The feature which all these firms find advantageous to the situation existing within is that podcasts provide the means for this information to be viewed at the recipient's convenience and can be accessed and utilized multiple times unlike a presentation given in person or the content of a meeting.
Another problem with the conventional presentation and meetings is the problem of coordination with all the employees or the people who are meant to attend them. With podcast, a simple link would be all that needs to be sent and the employee can view the content at his convenience. Through feedback, they would also be able to analyze and discuss the contents of the podcast with others hence utilizing the wisdom of a collective intelligence.

In many countries around the world, the working population spends a considerable amount of time in transport. According to the Land Transport Authority of Singapore, about 5 million trips are made on public transport everyday! A significant number of this would be the working population. So it is clear why a portable and mobile medium of information like podcasts would be preferred. This shows how big a market and scope podcasting has to expand to and if integrated by a telecommunication company, will give it a big boost in the market. Podcasts would make a profitable addition for any business model be it financially like for companies like Starhub or SingTel, or improving the efficiency of information distribution by firms and companies in general to their dealers, suppliers or customers. For example, IBM has a podcast on "The New Intellectual Marketplace" featuring Dr. Irving Wladawsky-Berger, IBM vice president of technology strategy and innovation.
Even U.S. Senator Barack Obama has a podcast reporting his views! Here is the link to his podcast: U.S. Senator Barack Obama Podcast. This seems a very novel way to get himself heard by a lot more people around the world than he could have through news channels or by speeches. I would have never heard his whole speech even if I wanted to through by any other means.

Another advantage of podcasts is that almost anybody can make a podcast without any significant expenditure for equipment or software which may be required. The software is available for free while the hardware (a simple microphone) is available for a very nominal price. Of course there is high-end equipment available too for those would are ready to spend a around S$ 1000 for the system.

We also talked about how smart tagging can help drive traffic to podcasts you produce and share on the Internet. I had already read about tagging since it was related to the web spider program used by search engines to list web pages. There are many software on the web available that allow users to edit these tags. One such software is iTunes.

The professor also pointed out how programs like Skype be used to conduct interviews of experts on particular topics with ease and can be posted on the Internet for the interested to access and hear the views.

I realize now how podcasting has enabled us to distribute information better and utilize the collective intelligence of people from all over the world by providing a common platform to share views with each other.