Podcast information and assistance
What is a podcast?
Podcasting is an emerging technology that allows users (or subscribers as they are called) to listen to an audio file, or to
watch a video about a topic which is of interest to them. It is much the same as receiving a newsletter by e-mail, or visiting
a website on a regular basis to catch up with what is going on for that subject.
Let's get one thing out of the way first of all. Do not be fooled by the name ... you DO NOT need an iPod to listen to or watch
podcasts. If you do happen to have an iPod or any other compatible device then you are of course able to copy the item onto it
and listen or watch at a convenient time.
How does it all work then?
An audio podcast (like the inaugral one from Ozleisure.com.au - March 2006), is an MP3 file - just like the file that is
used on an iPod (hence the term Podcasting), or any other portable digital music device. So, you will need something that
can understand MP3 files.
Video podcasts (like all future Ozleisure.com.au podcasts after March 2006) are recorded in either MPEG4 format or QuickTime (MOV)
format, so to view those you will again need some software that understands those formats.
There are a couple of options for viewing podcasts ... you can either, use the software on your computer to download the file (or files)
and use them, or you can view them online at certain websites. For ease of use we recommend using the software on your computer
so that the files are downloaded to you, then you can copy them to a portable device if you wish, or listen/view them again at a later
time very easily.
If you look around on the web, you will find hundreds, if not thousands, of software applications for the task and any one of them will
work just fine to use the podcast from us. As a personal preference, we recommend the use of
iTunes from
Apple Inc
which is available for the PC as well as Mac platform. It can be downloaded completely free of charge from the Apple website, or
by
clicking here.
I have the application or I will use the websites, now how do I use your podcast?
In order that podcasts are delivered to you as soon as they are published, you must "SUBSCRIBE TO THE FEED". Now,
for the vast majority of podcasts, subscribtion is completely free. The podcast from OzLeisure.com.au is also free, and we
guarantee that it will always remain so - it is a service we provide to our users, and not one we want them to have to pay for.
Subscribing to a feed could not be simplier, you either find the podcast that you want to use in a directory (such as the
Music Store available via iTunes) and click the subscribe button, or, like on the OzLeisure site you look for the "one-click subscription" buttons
as shown below;
Clicking the button which is applicable to either the software you have installed or the website that you prefer will subscribe you to that feed and
(normally) automatically download or play the latest episode of the podcast.
Step-by-step instructions
Please choose the item you would like instructions on.
1. iTunes
2. PodNova
3. Yahoo
4. Odeo
