Preamble:
I really like Victor Cajiao. I have talked with and really respect Robert Scoble. Mark Horstman is a management training leader. All of these guys podcast and all of them make videocasts (ie: video podcasts) from time to time. In Scoble's case, all the time.
I use the 60GB generation 4 video iPod. It segregates audio podcasts from video podcasts so that when I listen to my "Added Recently" smart playlist under "Music" I only hear audio downloads. If I flip over to the similar playlist on the "Videos" menu, I can see all of the audio and video podcasts that I have downloaded through iTunes, provided the video is formatted correctly for the iPod.
The Point:
In the last few days I have been catching up on some of the podcasts I monitor through iTunes. There were a quite a few in there that were videos, many from podcasters that normally program in audio. In Scoble's case, I monitored a few of his 'casts while I was preparing some dishes for a fun dinner tonight. Every single one of those videos sounded great as audio only podcasts. If it's just a couple or three or four talking heads then why don't these podcasters put out an audio only version of their material so that I can catch it during my normal commute?
Victor; as handsome as you and Scott Bourne are, close your eyes and listen to that interview. It totally works in audio only.
Mark and Michael; the interview cast videos work as audio too. Close your eyes and listen. Is anything missing other than Mark dashing from one side of the room to the other?
Robert; I liked the bestpartyever.com interview with Sally Strebel. The thing is, if it had not been a weekend I would not have had a chance to listen because I don't watch your podcasts. I didn't miss anything by not seeing you and Sally in Adirondack chairs on a golf course (I went back and looked later...).
Then I went looking for video casts that I could watch with my eyes closed. Most of the Beach Walks with Rox no problem. Command N? I'm listening now. Got that? Will and Amber, you're cute, but you're just standing there... When I just listen to you, you're smart. Come to think of it, there are a bunch of tech podcasts that feature good looking talking heads. Frankly I don't care about that. If your message is entirely intelligible when I can only hear you then all the content is in the audio.
Why don't you talking head videocasters out there release an MP3 of the audio so that I can catch you on my regular podcast cycle?
If traditional podcasting -- whatever the heck that is -- is dead, then I think it's because all of you folks playing with your video cameras have forgotten how important audio is.
If you are cute or handsome or move well then good for you that you look great on camera but if I can hear you and you impress me with your ideas -- regardless of whether I can see you or not -- then you are a good communicator too. So why don't you just release an audio version of your work at the same time as the video? What about vision impaired listeners? Why don't you do it for them and save yourself a bit of bandwidth in the mix?
Hey, you folks over at Podtech! Release MP3's on all of your video content. Do I really need to see the Seagate executive to hear about his latest financials?
Not releasing audio only versions of most of the available video podcasts that are out there is a huge marketing mistake. It's a deliberate self-imposed audience limiter and it relegates the real content of the media to the limited portion of the week that a person can spend tethered to a new media screening device. Okay, that may be my Apple TV; but most of us are not there yet and -- I don't know about you -- I'm spending considerably fewer hours watching TV these days.
Epilog:
Just in case some of you are already doing the audio only thing with your video, could you please tell me where the heck the feeds are? And please... will the leaders in this space (Paul Colligan, Leeza Barnes, Scott Bourne, Michael Geoghegen, Leo Laporte and the rest of you; get on this horse and let's make this a defacto part of every video podcast workflow).
