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Morning News 'Pack-o-Podcasts'

Listening to music or an iPod while you run is nothing new.  Millions of people do it.  Even my minister. I know because I gave him an iPod for Christmas last year. And I virtually gave up radio while commuting, in favor of hearing podcasts using a cassette-adapter in the car. 

Now I’ve gone a step further. Well, several thousand steps further. On my morning run, I catch up with the overnight news via podcasts.  I stack up a few favorites that total about 25 minutes. I created a “Morning News” Smart Playlist on my iPod so that when the shows download they go into that folder. It's easy then to  sync them to my Shuffle.   

My morning “pack ‘o podcasts” is:

•     Wall Street Journal Tech Briefing
•     Front Page Preview of The New YorkTimes
•     Cynopsis Digital (tech news)

    So far, I haven’t been able to find a good Sports update.  Anyone have a suggestion.

These short-form podcasts, from reliable and specialized information providers really give new meaning to the phrase “News on Demand.”

Scoble hopes to do 'a Charlie Rose'

Sounds like Robert Scoble's getting ready to spend some of PodTech.net's VC money on plane tickets.  In a conversation at the AlwaysOn summit, Scoble told Beet.TV he will begin producing a long-form Internet TV interview program.  He hinted his goal is have the show viewed on TV sets, rather than small iPod-size devices.  Small screens are fine for YouTube.com-type content, he said, like "Kids skateboarding off a building and videotaping themselves.  I'm not going to compete with that."

With the cost of video equipment and distribution dropping, Scoble said producers have to ask themselves, "How are you going to stick out?  That's going to require a little more thinking about the device you're going to distribute your content to, and then what kinds of content you shoot."

Scoble is taking a cue from his blog's readers.  "They told me to do something outside the Valley.  What's important in China? or in Europe?  After all, Skype was developed in Estonia and if you're not watching, you're going to miss it."

Scoble told Beet.TV he likes doing interviews similar to those he produced for Microsoft's Channel 9 . "I want to go into offices and homes and have a Charlie Rose' conversation." He hopes to launch the shows next month.

This sounds a lot like what Robert X. Cringely's NerdTV, a series of lengthy one-on-ones with tech gurus, icons, and entrepreneurs.   Cringely's site says another series of shows was to debut in "early summer" with a "super secret" guest.

Scoble's' wrong if he thinks it's the people he interviews who will differentiate his video show from thousands of other tech podcasts out there.  "Guests" will show up anywhere when the red light is on; the more ambitious they are, the quicker they'll smile for the camera.  What WILL make a difference is Scoble's personality. If he is interesting, people will watch.

Who would you like to see host a tech TV show? Post your suggestion.

Apple extends deal with Audible

Audible Inc. (ADBL) will continue to be the exclusive source for audio books and book-related spoken word material through the Apple iTunes Music Store (AAPL) under terms of a four-year agreement announced Monday morning. Audible first began distributing digital audio content on iTunes in October of 2003.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Audible said it will "seek ... confidential treatment of certain portions of the Agreement."

Audible's content includes 16,000 audio books and book-related content.  Also included in the deal are paid podcasts, lectures, speeches, radio programs, language instruction, children’s stories, and religious programs.

In an e-mail about the deal CEO Don Katz said "This has been one of those partnerships that works – on a technology development, hardware sales, and digital audio download plan."
 

Obviously, this is a good deal for Audible.  The prospect of not having this kind of distribution could have been fatal.  The agreement is likely to put to quench speculation Apple would acquire Audible.  That kind of talk helped drive Audible stock to $18.60 last fall.  Shares began trading Monday morning from $7.60.

This announcement also looks like bad news for Citigroup's down-grading Audible analyst.

What other audio or video content would you like to see iTunes offer? Post an answer.