Podcasting For Dummies Article
Discover How Downloading Free Podcasts is Your Free Access Ticket to a Massive Collection of Free Online Information and Entertainment
It is not difficult to find free podcasts and download them for entertainment or information purposes. One of the quickest ways for you to find the type of podcast you want is to search within one of the many online podcast directories. If you are not familiar with a podcast directory, it is a site which offers huge lists of categorized podcasts, sometimes in the thousands!
Podcast directories usually list their available podcasts by genre and topic, which makes it much easier to find a certain podcast. Another perk that makes podcast directories such a great resource is that they usually also allow user comments. These comments allow the directory to keep a list of the most top rated and most popular podcasts. Podcast directories allow users to browse through what is offered, for maximum enjoyment as well as the opportunity to find podcasts that they would have never known about.
Once you have located a particular podcast that you are interested in, you will have to download it for you to use. Some podcasts may have a small fee for use, but there are thousands which do not have any usage fees attached to them. You will also have to sign up to the directory in order to download from the web site. Before you download the podcast, you will need some software called a podcast client. You will be able to find one which suits your particular tastes, as there are many free podcast clients available.
Once you have located and installed a podcast client that you like, you can input the podcasts feed address into the client and download your podcast. Podcast files are located using RSS feeds which contain several bits and pieces of information about the podcast such as the name, episode and the location of the file. Once the file has been located by the podcast client it will download the podcast for you.
Some podcast directories have taken the process of locating and using podcasts a bit further by incorporating a podcast viewer right into the podcast directory itself. This allows users to search, locate and use podcasts right in their own browser without the need of a podcast client on their computer. These evolved directories will list the podcasts you can view from their site viewer so that you can pick and choose which episodes you want to watch or listen to.
By incorporating a viewer into the directory, the site has removed the need for the user to install extra software on their computer and also the need for the user to download the file at all. This can be especially attractive to some users who are on the move often, or simply do not want a bunch of files on their computer.
