Gadgetopia

So you're getting paid for this? :)

Haven't checked out your blog for a while and happened to notice it today. Imagine not only being able to read Deane's words regularly, but also to hear him. It's something I've been hoping for ever since I met you.

I was just trying to "skim through" a Boag World podcast yesterday because I wasn't interested in the topic of one of the sections. It would be nice to be able to skip between sections of a podcast. I do like their podcast because they divide it into sections, so that if you are listening in the car you can digest smaller chunks and if you pause and come back, you don't have a major disconnect.

One awful podcast I recently subscribed to used talkr.com to read the text of news stories. Thought it seemed like a good idea but the artificial cadence of the voice drove me insane relatively quickly. I wonder if that's what you heard, or was that a real person?

The big point of the audio post for me is that I get really sick of looking at a computer and reading stuff. Driving is a good reason but more than that, I just like to get some of the massive influx of information, much of which I don't retain anyway, in some other method than sitting in front of my computer. Sometimes I listen to podcasts when I'm making dinner or cleaning. I think I end up retaining the information I hear a little bit better as well. That has to do with the type of learner you are too (auditory, visual, kinesthetic). Most people are more than one type, so visual combined with auditory can be quite effective.

Listening to the post now. Good points about not being able to comment with audio--though commenting in audio would come with all the frustrations for us that you're dealing with now.

To be honest, though, I have wished that your content management articles (particularly the long, conceptual ones) were available in audio. If they were, I'd listen to them in the car on my iPod nano or N800.

Most of the virtue of audio posting is the detachment from the medium. It's the same advantage radio still has over television. Radio (and audio posts taken on the road) are a detached medium for communication in that one can multi-task (like commenting on this post or driving) while listening.

I look forward to hearing more from you, Deane. Reading your stuff has been great, and honestly, if you were to go back and read old CMS posts, I'd be happy.

Anyone else want to hear Deane read To Structure or Not to Structure or The Four Disciplines of Content Management out loud? The links and images would certainly be tricky, but we know where to find them if we want them, I guess.

Thanks for your thoughts on audio posting.

Nice job, Deane. You've got a voice made for radio. Now you've got to pick a topic that you've got some passion for — like the Mac vs. PC debate — and people will see the real Deane! ;o)

Regarding your comments about editing the audio, you mentioned that you're using Audacity for recording; if Audacity for Windows is anything like the Mac version (and I think it is), it's a nice non-linear audio editor. You can scroll back & forth through the waveform, click & play from any spot, select a segment you're not happy with and delete it, cut it from one area and paste it in another, etc... The editing is way different from text, but not impossible. And with some of the effects available for Audacity, you can have some fun with it too. Just show your kids a few of the things and it'll keep them busy for hours.

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