How Does Podcasting Work?
The podcaster makes a file (e.g., an MP3 audio or MP4 video file) available on the Internet by posting that file on a Webserver. This file is often referred to as an episode of a podcast. The podcaster acknowledges the existence of that file by referencing it in another file known as the feed. The feed is a computer-readable list of the Internet addresses from which episodes of the show may be accessed. In RSS format, this list provides publication dates, titles and text descriptions of the series and each of its episodes. A user enters the feed’s Internet address into a software program called a podcatcher or aggregator. This program retrieves and processes data from the feed. It determines the location of the most recent episode and automatically downloads it to the user’s computer. Some podcatchers, such as iTunes, also automatically make the newly downloaded episodes available to a user’s portable media player. The downloaded episodes can then be played, replayed or archived. What
