I've almost never listened to radio, but I don't like music. Been listening to podcasts since 2005, when I split them into 5 min segments and sent them via IR to my feature phone.
I don't get listening to things a) not from the beginning, b) not until the end, c) without pausing, skipping forward/back, d) not your favourite things, e) missing an episode, f) listening to the same thing twice
I've never listened to a podcast and have zero podcast related content on both mobile and desktop. There is one audiobook recommendation section, the 9th section down.
I don't know which podcasts this person is talking about. Some boring foreign podcasts? I watch podcasts about videogames and technology. He should go to iTunes and look at the most popular podcasts there. There are much worser shows on TV.
>I've tried many times, but I just don't get the value proposition: If I'm doing something else at the same time, I would rather listen to music because anyway I won't be focused enough to not lose track of the podcast every 30 sec. If I'm fully dedicated to the podcast, well I'd rather watch it as a video or read a book.
>
>I just feel like it tries to fit in a niche that simply doesn't exist.
The primary times when I listen to podcasts is:
- While biking
- While doing manual work involving low mental stimulation (washing dishes, laundry, other cleaning, etc.)
- While taking a walk
If I have my eyes available, I watch video content. If my brain is occupied, I listen to music at most.
As someone this resonates with and after reading some of the comments...
I don't think he means they literally have poor sound quality because of a bad microphone. I think he means they sound sterile and without life, they are somehow lifeless. That the majority of Podcasts sound the same, the same monotone narrator, the same perfectly pitched voices delivering lines, etc... I dunno how to describe it but it's why I don't listen to podcasts.
Author seems very pretencious. Suggesting that podcasts are waste of time based on handful of examples and then suggesting that (to paraphrase): "there are countless songs you could listen to" as if most music wasn't complete waste of time.
Then he goes for the sound quality and voices which just seems "hipstery" to me considering the few podcasts that I actively listen to have no hisses or cracks.
reply