Podcasting

Wikipedia definition of Podcast - A podcast is a multimedia file distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds, for playback on mobile devices and personal computers

Magazine Correlation
You can go to a newsstand and buy a magazine. This is similar to placing an audio file on your web site. Someone could go there and download it.

You can also subscribe to a magazine subscription. This will get a magazine delivered to your home each month after it is printed. A podcast is similar in that once you subscribe the content is automatically downloaded to your computer as it becomes available.

Does it require an iPod?
No. A podcast is typically an MP3 file that can be downloaded to your computer. It can be played on any MP3 player, burned to a CD for listening in the car or simply played right on your computer.

What is required?
1. A recording device
2. Software to edit and make an MP3
3. A place on the internet to put your file
4. A file describing the feed used for subscriptions

Recording Devices
Typically a recording device means you should get a simple microphone ($5-10) for your computer. You can go as cheap as you want. If you plan on making things more complicated, you can also go as expensive as you want. Some of our minister are doing a podcast using a simple digital voice recorder ($39 at Walmart) and it work just fine. If you are going to use your computer and a cheap mic, you will need software to make your recording. I suggest Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.com). It is free and fairly easy to use. Most podcasting help site will suggest it.

Editing and Encoding
If you need to edit your recording or you want to mix your recording with other recording you will need an audio editor. Again I suggest Audacity (did I mention it is free?). When you are done editing or recording, you can use Audacity to export your file as and MP3. This will reduce the file size by at least 10 times making it easier for users to download. To export as an MP3 file Audacity requires the LAME MP3 encoder be installed. There are instruction on the Audacity site. The LAME encoder is also FREE.

A Place on the Internet
Most Churches these day have a web site where you can host (place) your files. If not there are many site on the internet where you can do it for free.

Subscriptions
You can talk to the webmaster at your Church to see if they can support podcasting. If not you can use Blogger (http://www.blogspot.com) to do most of the subscription part.

A subscription file has many names; Feed, RSS Feed, XML file and others. This is just a text file that describes the content and location of your site. This can be automatically generated by some sites or can be hand coded. Blogger automatically codes it for you.

Once you have your feed, people can add your feed to their feed reader and their subscription will have begun.

As an extra I suggest once you have your feed you get a feedburner account (http://www.feedburner.com). They will make sure you feed is formatted for all of the various readers out there including iTunes (probably the most recognizable reader for most people).