New member with some questions

[CrusaderNYC]

Hi there everyone. I'm a newbie, so please ease up with the flames and jokes about my incompetency. :oops: Mind you, I'm not THAT dumb. I run my own graphic design firm and am a game developer working with Phobos Entertainment in NYC. :lol:
A few questions
1 - is it safe to assume that I DON'T need an iPod to listen/download podcasts?
2 - What is the best software to d/l so I start hunting for podcasts?
3 - Are there book podcasts? I was half listening to someone 2 months ago who said he wanted to get an iPod for audio books.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[carrington]

Welcome to the forum ... YOU INCOMPETENT NEWBIE! Sorry, I couldn't resist. ;-)

1. Yes, you do *nott* need an iPod to listen to or download podcasts. The name "podcast" confuses many people new to them. The podcasted file itself is typically just an MP3 (or similar) audio file. Any way you could listen to those, you could listen to a podcast. The "magic" of podcasting involves subscribing via an RSS file and having the MP3s fetched automatically and placed on your iPod (or other portable player, or your computer, etc.) for you instead of downloading each one manually.

2. "Best" is subjective. Apple's iTunes software is very, very popular. Browse the podcast section of the iTunes Music Store. Or of course, there's a pretty good list o' podcasts right here on Podcast Alley: just delete everything starting with "forum/" in the URL in your browser's address bar right now. ;-)

3. Yes, there are book podcasts. For instance, I believe that the excellent Earthcore book podcast is currently one of the "featured" podcasts here on Podcast Alley. Did you skip right over the main page and jump into the forum? ;-)

[CrusaderNYC]

Thanks for your feedback! You rock man. I look fwd to being a member of this community.


gabriel