I have heard about podcast for a long time and of cause knew what it was, but if you should be in doubt here goes:
According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, a podcast is "a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program, made available on the Internet for downloading to a personal audio player," but the generally accepted definition has expanded to include video as well as audio. Originally derived from a combination of "broadcasting" and "iPod ™," the word was declared "word of the year" when it was added to the dictionary at the end of 2005.
I have never owned an Ipod untill I brought my iPhone 3G this summer. At that point I, sadly, HAD to install iTunes. As you all know iTunes is a virus on a PC, but if I wanted my iPhone 3G to work at all, I had no choice. Therefore iTunes got installed.
As I now were the owner of an “ipod”, formed as an iPhone, I could start look more into podcast. Actually it all started when I found the Sparkling Client – Silverlight podcast by searching for “silverlight” inside iTunes Store. I subscribed for the podcast and got them all on my iPhone 3G. On my way to work the next day, on my bike cycle, I started the first podcast. When I arrived at work 15 minutes later, I realized that I had actually learned something while doing something simple as riding my bike, which I do 25-30 min. two times a day(to and from work).
This is were it started to get very interesting for me. Instead of listening to Ozzy, Metallica, Plain White T’s etc. to and from work, I could now learn something real, while doing something trivial as riding my bike. When I say real, I mean something I can actually use at my job or on my hobby projects, and not just the “lastest news” and “weather” in the normal FM radio (which the iphone 3G actually don’t have :P).
So at this point I became wiser, times two. I learned that listening to podcast could actually give me some knowledge, while I’m doing other trivial things. I also learned something about templating in silverlight as Jesse Liberty were on this podcast :)
Nothing new
Yes, your right, this is nothing new and you all knew it all along. I know. I just learned that now and are now listening to podcast when I do the dishes, the laundry etc. Generally task that I don’t need to think to much about is great for listening to podcasts.
Great podcasts I enjoy at the moment
As already stated, I listen to the Sparkling Client – Silverlight podcast. This is the only podcast I have been able to find which is only about Silverlight. If you know others, please let me know.
Hanselsminutes Podcast is also a podcast I enjoy alot at the moment. It not only about silverlight, but generally interesting stuff for a developer. Besides that, these podcasts is actually very funny. It’s seems that Scott Hanselman is a funny guy by nature, which just makes it all much better. See for instance his BabeSmash session at PDC2008 which shows his own “Babysmash application” but also gives an overview of the .NET framework.