iPhone Podcasting

This is a podcast created by and for the iPhone. I learned a lot about the iPhone in the process. Some good. Some bad.

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2 Responses to “iPhone Podcasting”

  • Asif Devji says:

    You’re doing some really interesting things here with mobile media, which is probably the next direction that a lot of these emerging technologies will move to.

    A home recording studio on your iPhone? Sounds spectacularly cool.

    I appreciate the technical hoops you’ve had to jump through to produce the podcast, which I find quite informative.

    Apple lite versions not doing the trick? I feel ya. Have been going through similar tools research for my Mac.

    Thanks for sharing the experience, and I’ll certainly be visiting this blog often.

  • mason says:

    Thank you, Asif, for your kind words.

    I have used Apple computers from time to time in professional and personal activities, but I had never really embraced them until fairly recently. As more students brought their MacBooks into the Libraries environment, our technical support team was obliged to acquire new expertise, especially when it came to wireless connectivity. We bought MacBook Pros last year as our bases of operations to better meet and serve the needs of our patrons.

    They are extremely versatile. We can run OS 10.5 (training and content), XP SP3 (production environment), Vista or Win7 (development environment) and of course, the UNIX kernel, all on the same machine. Either with Boot Camp or VMware Fusion as the shim. Keeping up with the application libraries for each OS is a daunting undertaking, but the machines are very good. Few breakdowns (mostly bad batteries) and Windows purrs…not that Apple really cares. Attractive design and a great screen, what is not to like?

    So I bought one for my personal use. My wife is a musician and we wanted an economical solution to her recording requirements. Garageband on the MacBook Pro, with decent mics routed through a small format, M-Audio 8-channel pre-amped mixer, does the trick. She and a couple of friends sing together regularly and the gear handles the recording chores, very well. For about $3500 including the computer, you can have audio quality and output that would have cost you $10,000-$15,000, only five years, ago.

    Now, the students carry cell phones and smart phones and net books, oh my! I had been watching my children, their friends and students at the U, use their cell phones and marveling at their dexterity in manipulating these devices. When I started in the CETL programme, I bit the bullet and decided to buy my first personal smart phone.

    I have used a lot of different devices, starting with the first Palm units. We have been testing Nokia Internet tablets, lately, and Asus and Acer netbooks. I have tried Blackberries and other button keyboard machines but I found the iPhone interface and virtual keyboard to be the best of the lot. While there are things about the iPhone for which I do not care (though OS 3.0 will alleviate many of them), as an all-around, useful handheld device it is hard to beat. It integrates into personal and professional environments with ease and the cool factor is extraordinary. Apple is selling them in 80 countries, this year. Half the mobile Web traffic in the US spills out through iPhone/iPod screens.

    My sojourn into mobile computing has been an interesting one, so far, but I feel I am just getting my feet wet. So much more to learn. But not tonight. 🙂

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