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December 07, 2004
Activating Podcast Subscriptions via iPods directly
The thing I've been pondering in my few spare moments since podcasting has to do with how we can build a network distribution model that serves all producers and listeners or viewers. And I've talked about creating channels that help an audience navigate through the thousands of offerings (34 directories with hundreds of podcasts currently...the potential is unlimited). People want to find the things they think they like, and also discover new things they never knew they'd like. But...
What about when you're listening to a podcast, like Adam's or MWS Media, and you like the band they played or a clip from another podcaster and they tell you there's a podcast channel (RSS feed) for it? What if you could subscribe then and there? And what if you could do this directly via your mobile device or your media client (iTunes, etc.) without writing down the band name or website, and then manually going through the subscription process in your iPodder client?
This would be a way to help you add new subscriptions referenced in feeds you already have. It follows the trusted sources you already know about rather than sending you to a cold directory listing
of podcasts.
OK, the podcast you're listening to says you can subscribe immediately. That means, in this imaginary scenario, that:
1) there's a custom playlist on your iPod called "Subscription Forms" with a "slug" MP3 which acts as a voting mechanism to indicate you want to subscribe to the show mentioned. The audio of this slug mp3 has a soothing voice which simply says "You can subscribe to this feed by rating this slug with 5 stars" and it has the ID3 tags: song='name of podcast to subscribe to', album="Rate as ***** to subscribe", and artist='source podcast name'.
2) when you synchronize your iPod (or other mobile device), your iPodder software is aware of this slug (it put it there to begin with) and sees that you subscribed to it. It then adds the RSS feed to your subscription list and grabs it ASAP.
3) If you didn't subscribe, the slug remains unrated yet shows that you have listened to it, so the iPodder client deletes it.
So, how does the slug get created in the first place? When you produce your podcast, simply embed links to RSS feeds. Just as the blogging software creates "enclosure" tags for media links, it also creates "sub-podcast" tags for RSS links. iPodder then reads the embedded podcast's feed, grabs the title and creates the slug mp3 with appropriate ID3 tags, and puts this into a custom playlist folder on your iPod. You've now subscribed to a new podcast without going on the web or even configuring your iPodder client.
The blog you just read is a dramatization. Names have been created to make a point, and any resemblance to other concepts simply implies someone else is trying to solve these same issues. Let's make Indie Content Networks work!
Posted by roymond at December 7, 2004 10:50 PM
Comments
But.. can you change the rating of a song on an iPod? I can't. But maybe that's because I have an older iPod (physical scroll wheel)?
Posted by: Reid at December 8, 2004 11:50 PM
Of course this assumes you can. It's a central capability to all iPods since the second edition came out. I didn't buy the first, which you have, so I was assuming this was possible on all. Thanks for the input.
Posted by: roymond at December 9, 2004 08:04 AM
Hello Roymond!
It's taken a month and a half, but just yesterday I heard you plug my podcast, the MWS Media Radio Show! Talk about timeshifted...
Anyway, thanks much -- you and I seem to have a lot in common when it comes to our opinions about independent creativity. We should chat some time -- either at http://www.mwsmedia.com or maybe through Skype? I'm mwsmedia in Skype, or just search my name.
Thanks again!
Posted by: Matthew Wayne Selznick at January 21, 2005 03:56 PM