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Podcasting may not be the newest technology on the block, but it continues to generate a powerful impact on both grassroots and large-scale content production and distribution. This impact was explored during “Re-Inventing Television: Podcasting and the Future of Media,” a colloquium held on Sept. 28. The speaker was Chris Boebel, MIT’s manager of multimedia development for Academic Media Production Services (AMPS). Here is the recording of of “Re-Inventing Television: Podcasting and the Future of Media”.
Boebel, a graduate of NYU’s film program, considers himself to be more of a “content producer than a technologist.” He explained that asynchronous delivery and low-production costs have created a media landscape in which almost anyone can produce podcast-quality material and distribute it easily to a wide range of subscribers.
Boebel then introduced ZigZag, MIT’s new video and audio podcasting service. Asking CMS graduate students to consider submitting video and audio to the site, he stressed the need for more student-generated content that represents the diverse voices of the MIT community.
A question and answer period struggled with the question of the future of television. It seems that ABC’s full-length show streams and software like Apple’s Front Row are rapidly changing the way we access visual media, but no one seems to be able to explain what that means for the future of the medium. Concerns centered on the abundance of information and how to navigate it, how structural changes will affect content, and the financial implications of those changes.
