30 March 2008

the benefits/detractions of podcasts vs. text blogging

The benefits of podcasting compared to text-based blogging:
  • There is another level of detail to podcasts that text-based blogging cannot achieve. I don't know if it is actually authenticity, but there is a more human, personal quality to spoken words; podcasting can add emotion to content where it might be indiscernible in text.
  • Good for users who cannot read for a variety of reasons ranging from visual impairments to a lack of time.
  • Good for auditory learners.
The detractions of podcasting vs. text blogging
  • Podcasting requires a little more equipment than text based blogging. Access to a keyboard is fairly ubiquitous and text blogging can be done anywhere, but microphones are (I think) not necessarily standard and recording a podcast requires somewhat more privacy and space to create and not disturb others.
  • Podcasting cannot be edited as simply and easily as text based blogs. In the worst case, once a podcast has been posted, in order to "edit", a new mp3 must be generated and uploaded. Text blogs can be edited in situ.
  • Not so good for visual learners. For myself, I am a better and more careful reader than listener and it's not so much that I don't actually listen, but I will try to take advantage of the opportunity to do other things while I listen and often find my attention drifting, listening less carefully.

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