by Elise Clark

The New York Times, three years after the beginning of audio blogging, asked “What do the

pope and Paris Hilton have in common? They're both podcasters - and you can be one too.” Podcasting isn’t for your teenager to listen to Eminem anymore. It isn’t for yuppies

trendsetters either. It’s actually a powerful and inexpensive communication tool that is

useful for business, today – and it’s as easy as apple pie on Sunday morning.

Don’t be afraid. You’ve already figured out that putting an ad in the Yellow Pages isn’t really

doing much for your particular business so you’ve stepped tentatively into the age of

technology by getting a website. Now if you can use email, then you can learn about

Podcasting. Podcasting is just a pre-recorded audio piece you can download with Podcasting software like Apple iTunes, or Juice Receiver, from the internet. A broadcast of information.

It’s based on a similar technology to email, which we call content delivery. You can download podcasts to your computer, or portable device, like your mobile or Mp3 player.

 

Say all you wanted it for was the news, you can subscribe to a podcast feed, which will

download customised news-feeds to your newsplayer (This can just a little bit of software;

you don’t even need an iPod). And it isn’t just for audio files; you can also download videos

too. Once you have downloaded the oh-so-simple software, Google something like “podcast,

table tennis” or whatever it is that you’re interested in. You’ll find a website with links. Then

you click those links and the podcast downloads automatically to your computer or mobile

device.

If you subscribe to a podcast ‘feed’, your software will notify you if there are any new items

from that link, and download them automatically. If you’re on a major mobile network provider, like Telstra, Optus, or Vodaphone, you can download a podcast to your compatible mobile

right now. What can Podcasting do for my business? Considering the average employee

receives 60-70 emails a day, the question is more like, why haven’t I learned about this

before now? It doesn’t matter anymore that time is too limited to visit seminars or lectures

and there’s no need to print out the equivalent of the United Nations peace agreement to

take with you on the plane next time you want to read about something.

 

• Improve general business communication, with both internal and external customers. (Like listening to the KPI performance of employees, or getting an update on sales figures)

 

• Access lecturers, seminars, conferences and videos without leaving home, listen to them on

the way to work or at the gym, either at little or no cost. As a business tool, customer’s can subscribe to your program. Every time you update your feed, podcasting software automatically downloads new podcasts to your customer's computers as soon as they are available. After

they download your podcast, they can sync it to their mp3 players, mobiles, or just listen to it

on the computer. You’re just making it easier for them to listen to what your business has to

say.

 

Who uses Podcasting now?

 

• Public Affairs Officers

• Communications Managers

• Media Advisors

• Public Relations Consultants

• Trainers and Educators

• University Lecturers

• Webmasters

• Network Administrators

• IT Security Managers

• Multi-media Staff

 

What kind of content will I find on a Podcast? Absolutely anything you can imagine. Ok now what do I do?! Pick up a Podcasting kit from your local computer store!

 

Elise works on a tech support desk for IBM-Lenovo, Australia

Apple has done a lot with teir technology over the years to give the Artistic Industry more mobile computing power than they have ever had before but there will always be times when the creative bug bites and you don’t have your gorgeous 17” MacBook Pro with you. Maybe you’ll never want or need to create the cover of this week’s New Yorker magazine on your iPhone… but it’s good to know that you can if you want to! Apple’s iPhone and the developer community that has sprung up around it has ensured that amongst the 50,000+ Apps on the iPhone App Store... there’s an App for that! For the June 1 cover, Artist Jorge Colombo spent $5 on an iPhone Application called Brushes and painted the New York street scene on the 480 x 320 screen of the Apple iPhone.

Far from a one-trick-pony, if painting is not your thing, have a look at some of the imaginative pieces created with the 99c App TypeDrawing. The concept of TypeDrawing is really simple... Drawing with letters! You just type a sentence or word you want to say, and then just draw! TypeDrawing originally started with an on-line project in 2005, and you can still see the original on-line project at http://www.storyabout.net/typedrawing/index.php, but now you can also have it in your pocket to create whenever the mood takes you! Already there is a growing collection of TypeDrawing artwork at Flickr group http://www.flickr.com/groups/typedrawing.

Maybe Photography is your gig, and if so there are Apps that will extend the range of what can be produced with the iPhone camera, such as the $2.99 CameraBag App, used here in a photograph by Lisa Bettany (www.mostlylisa.com). CameraBag gives you 10 classic camera and film simulations in one App such as Magazine (emulates fashion photo shoots), 1974 (emulates your father’s camera’s faded and tinted look) and 1962 which emulates the dynamic black and whites from the photojournalists of a bygone era. You can also layer effects by reloading a saved image. If 10 camera simulations is not enough for you, try 101 PhotoEffects, which contains a simulation of just about every Photoshop filter ever created such as Night Vision, Neon Light, Old TV, Pencil Paint, Burnt Paper and on and on. 101 PhotoEffects is a bargain for only 99c.

Finally for those starting out there is a series of iGuides including Graphic Design 101 for just $2.49. The guide features introductions that help you understand where the Graphic Designer fits into the big picture and the ability to view Chapter by Chapter for fast searching. And if none of these iPhone Apps ring your bell then just check out the iPhone App Store on iTunes... there’s over 50,000 Apps and most of them only cost a few dollars which is within reach of even the most impoverish student.

Paul is a Business Anayst for IBM- Lenovo Australia