iPhone 91Èȱ¬ Podcasts Reaction
Post categories: Radio & Music,Ìýpodcasts
| 13:55 UK time, Friday, 16 November 2007
I should be honest and tell you that until recently I worked in the 91Èȱ¬'s Audio&Music Interactive department.
And I think they're great.
But it doesn't matter what I think. What matters is that their nifty ideas to make the 91Èȱ¬'s podcast service easy to access on the new iPhone has gone down well with bloggers.
This post from the Radio Labs blog explains the detail. And the reaction? Well, :
"The other handset manufacturers must be kicking themselves, asking why they can't create a product that to all intents and purposes is still niche but commands a place in the market that prompts the 91Èȱ¬ to release to my knowledge the only device specific page on their site for their radio podcasts"
"This is very cool. Very cool indeed." Andrew Grant on Shiny Things. Digg's is "pretty nifty". For , it's simply "another reason to love my iPhone".
While Pocket Picks :
"God bless the Beeb: they may come in for a critical shoeing from time to time, but if they're spending my licence fee on making shedloads of podcasts available for my iPhone, I'm happy."
Nick Reynolds is editor, 91Èȱ¬ Internet Blog.
Comments
I think it’s the opposite. A shame that the 91Èȱ¬ will target one specific device out of many.
OK, so a few people will buy it, and they’ll enjoy the site while using it. But what of all the other users of the site? Does the iPhone have that many users already to justify being a special case?
Yet again, something done without much thought: doing something like this skews the market in so much as it encourages people to buy an iPhone.
I’ve been to the iphone page in firefox, it’s simplicity, so why has it not been around for the past few years for my Sony Ericsson P910i with Opera?
So given the promised integration of radio's Listen Again (including the wonderful Radio 4 Listen Against!) into iPlayer, what's the relationship between the Audio & Music Interactive and FM&T?
Why not merge the two blogs together?
Thanks Alan. The two blogs have different remits (i.e. things they will be talking about). But I am hoping for some blog posts from some people from A&Mi on this blog.
John,
Our team is deliberately supporting wifi devices, and you'll see more wifi devices getting supported shortly, including the PSP. (We're also, being honest, supporting devices where it's moderately easy to do.)
I have a Sony Ericsson P900 in my box of gadgets; a nice phone it is. However, downloading relatively huge files via the cellular network isn't, for most people, very realistic; so we're concentrating on wifi for now.
(I replied earlier, but it seems our ever-so-useful blog system swallowed my reply. Hope this one gets through).
Apologies, James. You weren't marked as spam, but you may have been eaten by some.
Update: Simon has written a bit more about the reaction and some of the problems with the prototype.
/blogs/radiolabs/2007/11/iphone_podcasts_1_week_on.shtml
To jump on the "cool" band-wagon of the iPhone certainly doesn't do our image any harm - particular amongst the 20 to 30's who are less likely to be accessing 91Èȱ¬ content than any other group.
It's also nice to actually do something first for a change (we certainly took our time with the original release of 91Èȱ¬ podcasts)
I think there is certainly a need to experiment with the latest technology and platforms. While in the short term these types of content may only be available to a minority (those who understand the tech or have the latest gadgets), by starting early we ensure that we are ahead of the game by the time mass adoption takes place (if indeed it does!).
It's fantastic that the 91Èȱ¬ are getting involved with new technology like this - it's also great that podcasts will be available in this way, but it would be even better if iplayer was also available in this form (just like the youtube videos which are currently offered on iphone).
Unfortunately, I doubt this will happen any time soon, as while the beeb is supporting niche technology on this side, you don't appear to be doing the same for PCs - the iplayer still doesn't support mac's, and by the look of things won't do for a long time to come...
The iPhone podcast set-up is wonderful, but can you sort something for Listen Again (or at least find some way to load real player 11 on unlocked iPhones)?