Sunday, January 06, 2008

DicksnJanes #133: unconscious competence

The Scarborough Dude takes forever to begin unearthing his past.

Music:
Have You Ever Been Lonely - Ernest Tubb - The Ernest Tubb Collection With Guests
Raino - Chilliwack - Greatest Hits

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Dude:

Another interesting show, but I wonder about the definition of what is podcasting and what isn't, specifically in regard to CBC.

I see podcasting defined by two different kinds of empowerment. The first kind, which admittedly does not apply to CBC is the democratization of content creation. Folks like you and I can create and publish content, without needing to be a large media organization like he CBC.

However, there is another kind of empowerment, and that is the empowerment of the listeners to listen when they want to, in the manner they wish to. By re-purposing what started off as radio shows using the podcasting delivery model, to me CBC is saying that they "get it" and are OK with this kind of empowerment. In this sense, I'd say they qualify as podcasts.

Cheers,

John Meadows

Scarborough Dude said...

Thanks for taking the time to reply John. I think we're in agreement, and for sure I could have done a better job of explaining myself. I like the fact that I can listen to shows when I want, and I hope to be able to do this (affordably) with television especially. So yes, the podcast delivery method is great,for hobbyists amateurs, wannabes and pros alike.

But I still think the term 'podcast' (until another term comes along) is not just about how it's delivered, but is also about the who (generally unpaid amateurs), what (almost anything, unlike radio), where (where ever) and when (at anytime, and any schedule).

Empowering yes - Long live the doityourselfers!!

Dave Brodbeck said...

Dude!

Dead on about the podcasting thing. I still mostly listen to indie stuff, though I do listen to stuff from CNET and TWIT. I do not listen to CBC podcasts, which are, in my experience, are radio shows converted to mp3 format and delivered via RSS.

The CBC is much better than it was a couple of years ago, but it is still to me, pretentious as hell. Or, it is hip and trying to be so, which is bad.....

I also have a problem with a company that employs, with my tax dollars, a racist pig that has as many Stanley Cup rings as I do.

Community of the CBC Bah, that is like the community of people that watch Hockey Night in Canada (not that I dislike hockey night in Canada, as long as I avoid Don Cherry).

Dave

Anonymous said...

for me it's simple. i want to be able to get good audio from somewhere in the world (and even better: when i want to listen). i'm less bothered by the name of the means of distribution, or where it comes from and how it was made, as long as it's good stuff (tho the word "podcast" is not supposed to appear on earideas.com ... that's a temporary mistake ...).

but: punk's not dead.

Scarborough Dude said...

That being said Hugh, I'm even more honoured (and somewhat stunned) to have the DicksnJanes podcast included on Earideas! (BTW, don't worry about my ego - the Scarborough Dude will survive being bumped off that list when something better comes up.)

Anonymous said...

ya...CBC...is not podcasting. No farting on the CBC...hihi

Anonymous said...

more from earideas about scarboroughdude:
http://blog.earideas.com/?p=30

Scarborough Dude said...

Holy shit Hugh! I love it!! (But at the same time, feel a little embarrassed, like a kid caught masturbating...)

Anonymous said...

heh. well if dicknjanes starts promoting masturbation, we may have to reconsider. blindness & hairy hands etc. bad all round.

Transpondency Podcast Network said...

I was standing outside the CBC building in Vancouver last month pondering the same sort of question. The creative commons music, the blog community, the this and the that... CBC realizes it needs to have a internet presence before the net makes them irrelevant. Pretentious as ever: to me, it seems the CBC feels it has to suck up culture through its filters and spit it back out at Canadians in order to validate it as authentically Canadian. True podcasts don't have a list of paid producers and engineers required to be acknowledge at the end of the show. Independent podcasters are losing their unique distinction. I haven't check new dictionary editions but, does podcast as distribution mechanism and podcast as a creative philosophy have separate definitions?

Scarborough Dude said...

Glad to get all this feedback regarding what constitutes a podcast. As a verb, it doesn't much matter, and I agree with Hugh that ultimately, it's about the convenience of listening to your choice of audio when and where you like. But as a noun, I think we amateurs should be able to call ourselves podcasters, while the commercial enterprises should maybe be called 'paidcasters'. Comments?

Dry Shave said...

I don't listen to podcasts. I listen to Dicks N Janes and other shows. I also listen to radio on demand. Who gives a shit what it's called, we all know what it is. I mean, you can call him "president of the free world" but we all still know him as Bush.

What would HAM operators like your father do? Would they even care? Was short wave radio considered competition?

-Ross

Anonymous said...

This must be the subject of the week.

It looks like podcasting pioneer Dave Winer took issue with Mashable’s rant about their inability to get advertisers interested in their podcast ideas.

Winer also took issue with our response. We said that if you want to podcast professionally, you have to start thinking like a professional podcaster.

“Both sides of this argument are full of shit wrong,” argues Winer.

The full article is here....

http://www.podcastingnews.com/2008/01/11/dave-winer-full-sh/

Anonymous said...

You know, I saw that reference to the film "Bobby" on facebook, and it left me confused, because the only film I could think of was the Bollywood classic from 1973. Talk about yer cultural divide.

As for podcasting -- I get what you mean, but "podcast" is a convenient term for audio that you put on an mp3 player to listen to when you choose.

Maybe that's why everyone is now referring to themselves as "independent creators of media"?

I can't bear that, personally, but when I do see a problem now that *everything* is called a podcast. I run a forum for podcast fans, and I have seen that independently created stuff is now being held up to the radio-produced product and found wanting. I think it's a shame to shove everything into that same boat. I can't compete with radio, nor do I want to.

But the bottom line is I don't know what the answer is. I don't think there's any going back, now.

Anonymous said...

Link was cut (thanks blogger)

last half should be:

/2008/01/11/dave-winer-full-sh/

Anonymous said...

The last part of the show, where you talked about getting off your ass, travelling and living life, made me stop everything else I was doing and just focus on you. It was amazing.

Thank you for a great show! You, my friend, are what podcasting is all about.

Bob said...

I enjoy Spark, and it does come pretty close to the podcasting "vibe" - but it's still a radio show. So I think I agree with you..

But that's been the debate since 2004, hasn't it? What defines a podcast? To me the "indie" component is a huge part, but what if an indie show became hugely popular and starting making real dough. Would it no longer be indie or a podcast?

Podcasting to me means you participate in the community, it's a movement, not just an audio program made available through RSS.

Since Dave brought it up, there's no room for Don Cherry on "My CBC".. Fucking xenophobic tool..