Tips for podcasters

I have a couple of requests for the podcasters of the world, especially those of you whose podcasts run in excess of 30 minutes.

First, could you please not publish your podcast in 128kbps MP3 files? This is bad for the publisher and the listener: the publisher faces enormous bandwidth bills, and it takes the listener forever to download the podcast. iTunes supports a wonderful codec called AAC, and it sounds surprisingly good at very low bit rates. You could probably get away with 32kbps for voice-only podcasts, and 64kbps for podcasts that include music. Bada-bing, your bandwidth bill is suddenly 25-50% what it was before.

Secondly, unless you have an enchanting voice, or have training in radio, the chances of your podcast sounding good are slim. I don't like downloading 100 different podcasts to find the one talented podcaster. Remember, the printing press was invented before the phonograph!