On the discovery of podcasts

It's been a while. Something new has entered my life. I broke down and finally got an ipod, a belated Christmas gift. Wow, it's lifechanging. I am discovering the world of podcasts. I had no idea how much stuff is out there a download away. There are free coffee break Spanish lessons I listened to while emptying the dishwasher. Episodes of NPR's fresh air are readily available. There are podcasts just about anything for anyone. You can learn about scientific findings in 60 seconds, discover new recipes and not to speak of all the neat stuff for kids. So why am I writing about podcasts in a green blog? I am still trying to figure myself what the green aspects of having an ipod and the availabiity of podcasts truly are. Am I just buying into consumerism here that somehow I need one, too, even though I have lived without an ipod for so long. Sure in my twenties I had a walkman, you know one of those clunky things which would hold just one cassette and for a while it was enjoyable to hear music on public transportation or while skiing (back then, I didn't have the awareness of what the skiing industry is doing to nature). Somehow the novelty wore off and the walkman became a backup tape player. Is this going to happen again with the ipod? A big reason why I wanted one was the capability to hook it into the car stereo, so if we go on a road trip (somewhat cleaner than flying) we could listen to all kinds of music and books. The 6-CD charger somehow always holds the same 6 CDs, and boy, am I tired of those.

So much for my initial personal reasons. I can argue that I may never have to go out and buy a CD again, thus saving resources. That is part of the beauty of new technology, it really does make the use of paper and other resources a lot less necesary. The downside seems the constant development of technology which produces technotrash, only slowly are the producers of electronics paying attention to producing more recycable equipment.

What I hadn't expected when I got the ipod was the discovery of the podcasts. Somehow I am quite excited about this new medium. I have my favorite radioshows but they are only available at certain times and when they are over I may pollute my brain with a highly commercial radio station. Now I can just find an inspiring podcast. That feels like a breeze of clean air. Of course there are podcasts on green living and I checked a few out yesterday. When I get a better overview on the good ones, I'll share my insights.

So far I'm the kids in the candystore when it comes to podcasts. So much to listen to. Amazingly lots of podcasts are free with very little advertising and they are so easy and cheap to produce for someone with a decent computer. I like this democratic aspect of giving more people who have something to say a forum. I'm not sure what all this will mean to radio and TV as we know it. Some of the stuff that's so hot and consumes many people's time like twitter, facebook, myspace, youtube etc. I have not been as intrigued.

So I am just enjoying the feeling of being excited about something like the possibilities of podcasts, maybe I'll produce one soon.

Being inspired matters. Let yourself be excited about whatever it is that moves you. Let's matter together. Yes, we can.