What is now called a podcast traces its orgins to the first iPod podcasts, the creation of distributed mp3 files that could be downloaded and played on Apple’s music player, the iPod. When the iPod came out, and users discovered what a wonderful thing it was for holding music, some people had the idea of loading things that weren’t necessarily songs. Some of the people that got their hands on the iPod took the route of reverse engineering the iPod and loading on different firmware, or operating system, but others had the idea of sharing small sound files that could be played on the iPod. The technology for distributing the files already existed, with RSS feeds. RSS feeds were a means of generating machine readable files that could share information between a server and a user. Many blogs already used them to keep readers up to date with the latest posts, but some hopeful podcasters had the idea of enclosing links to sound files within the RSS feed and downloading the file to the computer.

With the change in RSS feeds, iPod podcast took off and podcasting became a popular way to share files. Users saw podcasting as a way to become radio hosts, or dj’s, and a variety of podcasts began popping up. Software was written to automatically check the RSS feeds, extract the links to the podcast episodes, and download the files. These programs became known as podcast clients.

By this time, podcasting had moved beyond the iPod and they were not simply making an iPod podcast anymore. Some people had figured out how to use even the PlayStation Portable gaming console as a podcast player. It was more difficult that downloading podcasts to the iPod, since the PSP used a different format for its files, but PSP podcasts began popping up. In addition, podcasting made inroads to the wider audience of people without iPods, who simply saw podcasting as an extremely convenient way to receive news, music, and entertainment over the internet.

Today, while the iPod podcast type still exists, fewer people subscribe to podcasts as a way of gaining portable media files they can listen to anywhere. Although that is still an attractive part of podcasting, it seems to be eclipsed by the ease with which podcasting has become a content delivery system. Now, podcasting has become tied up with the rising number of audio and video blogs, where blogging is done not by post, but through media files uploaded to the blog. These blogs, and podcasting in general, take advantage of the shrinking cost of broadband internet connections, and the rising number of people with high speed access to offer a picture of the internet rich with multimedia files.

via  http://hubpages.com/hub/The-History-of-Podcasting

Investment research firm Piper Jaffray today held a conference call regarding teenage spending habits and statistics, which brought to light several figures about Apple devices and services. Of the students surveyed, the report found that 87-percent owned an MP3 player, and of those, 86-percent are iPod owners. This also reflected in the students’ choice of music store, with iTunes sitting at 79-percent. The advent of other iPod-compatible music stores eroded iTunes’ share slightly from 89-percent.About 6-percent of students polled also revealed they own an iPhone, with an additional 9-percent saying they plan to own one within six months. This indicates that the iPhone’s share has doubled from last fall, which Piper Jaffray believes could indicate that Apple will slightly exceed its goal of 10-percent market saturation.

In terms of competition, Real Networks’ Rhapsody service is used by 2-percent of students polled, while Microsoft’s Zune is the next most popular MP3 player, with 3-percent share.

via http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/04/08/apple.popular.with.teens/

Description:
This MP3 has all the convenience of a large screen and the capability to play all your music, see your videos and pictures. Plus this iPod also has web page capabilities and wireless networking.

Review:
This iPod is the first I have ever owned. I wasn’t sure what I was getting into when I decided to try this but wouldn’t be without it now.

I really like the slim feature of this iPod. I can carry it with me anywhere and don’t have to worry about it being big or bulky. That’s a plus in my fast paced world. I don’t have room or time for anything I really have to fumble with to get in and out of my backpack. Plus the screen is scratch resistant.

This iPod is so easy to use even for me. I don’t have a clue what I’m doing when it comes to these electronic gadgets. I usually fumble through or ask one of my well versed kids how it works. This iPod was simple for me to learn and use. I was amazed at how fast I picked up on it.

I also like the high quality screen. It’s slim, but large enough to make watching my videos and TV shows easy and fun. Seeing the music displays so easily makes it a lot more fun than I would have thought too.

It also has internet capabilities. I really like that. It can be kind of slow but with a little patience it gets you where you want to go and I like that. It doesn’t replace my desktop as far as searching but in a pinch away from home it does everything I need it to do.

The memory capacity is great on this iPod. It holds everything I need and more. I couldn’t ask for a better piece of technology. If you’re looking for an iPod that is slim, easy to understand and use and has the capabilities to do just about anything you want from an iPod I would suggest this one. It makes a great gift too - I bought one for my husband for Christmas and he loves it.

 via http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en&q=ipod