Podcasts –

Podcasts are media files, video and audio, that are usually free to download over the internet for personal music players and computers in general. The content ranges from clips of television shows or radio streams, to educational courses and lectures. With such a wide variety of things to choose, there is a high level of personalisation surrounding the entire scheme. Most podcasts can be easily accessed and downloaded from iTunes, with subscriptions also freely available, meaning any recent additions to the selected podcast will be downloaded automatically.

The “Ask a Ninja” podcast is a perfect example of how the new media opportunities, brought about by the creation of Video iPods, are being used to their full potential. These are relatively short comedic video clips, with a short, easily recognisable opening sequence with a theme tune. As the actual visual material of the podcast is generally monotonous – a guy in a ninja suit talking in front of a coloured backdrop – users can afford to only listen to the podcast, which means there is a lot more flexibility. The topics addressed are dictated by the questions sent in by the audience to a given e-mail, and this works to highlight the fact that the ninja is an average person and pays attention to any e-mail he receives. As the site askaninja.com was already in place before podcasts started being used to promote the series, it is harder to judge the status before and after. You can, however, consider the particularly high-ranking popularity of the few available podcasts on iTunes, and it is clear the series has benefited greatly from its convergence with iPods.

The Times newspaper is also taking advantage of the possibilities podcasts provide. To bridge the gap between newspapers and forms of new media technology in this way is a revolutionary idea, and their podcasting success reflects this. This “Mandarin Chinese Conversation” course is just one of many educational courses being produced by the Times Online website. It is audio-based, as with language basics there is not much requirement for any visual stimulation, and is taught by a clear-voiced English woman accompanied by a couple of Chinese teachers. As the conversations featured gradually get more and more complicated, more help is offered by use of separate “Practice conversation” files, and then by “Lesson notes”, which are also freely downloadable. During lessons, listeners are prompted to listen and repeat certain words or phrases, making the whole experience seem a lot more involving. In addition to this, it also backs up the fundamental language structure of Mandarin – the tone with which the words are pronounced.

Key concepts:

- Proliferation

- Non-linear

- Portability

- Personalisation

- Flexibility