Friday, October 19, 2007
Transform posts into podcasts
Some people don't like to read. They're not illiterate or uneducated. They simply prefer other modes of communication, entertainment, or information exchange.
Me, I'm somewhat compulsive about reading. I often have to visit foreign countries where I don't speak the language to force myself to take a vacation from reading. (And even then, I try!)
But there are times that I simply cannot read a word.
So I decided to give Odiogo a try at my other blog site. Odiogo automatically transforms blog posts into podcasts. The free service gives your written content a spoken "voice" -- and by creating a special podcast feed, it also claims to give a blog "legs".
Here's how Odiogo works: By implementing Odiogo, an articulate male voice reads each one of my blog posts. While "the voice" is somewhat robotic, he's pretty good with inflections and pretty easy on the ears. People can choose to subscribe to the audio feed instead of the written feed -- and hear my content rather than read the posts. Further, those who prefer to take their feeds "on the road" can save the audio content to their iPods or other portable mp3 player devices.
What do you think of services like Odiogo? Implementing the service was a snap -- I filled out a form, and pasted in some code to my blog template. And I do like the idea of being kinder to the visually impaired. I also like the concept of better serving those who don't find themselves in a position to read.
But how will people respond to services like Odiogo?
Some people don't like to read. They're not illiterate or uneducated. They simply prefer other modes of communication, entertainment, or information exchange.
Me, I'm somewhat compulsive about reading. I often have to visit foreign countries where I don't speak the language to force myself to take a vacation from reading. (And even then, I try!)
But there are times that I simply cannot read a word.
- In a car, train, boat, or plane (I get motion sick.)
- When my eyes are tired (at the end of the day.)
- On the treadmill (too much jouncing.)
So I decided to give Odiogo a try at my other blog site. Odiogo automatically transforms blog posts into podcasts. The free service gives your written content a spoken "voice" -- and by creating a special podcast feed, it also claims to give a blog "legs".
Here's how Odiogo works: By implementing Odiogo, an articulate male voice reads each one of my blog posts. While "the voice" is somewhat robotic, he's pretty good with inflections and pretty easy on the ears. People can choose to subscribe to the audio feed instead of the written feed -- and hear my content rather than read the posts. Further, those who prefer to take their feeds "on the road" can save the audio content to their iPods or other portable mp3 player devices.
What do you think of services like Odiogo? Implementing the service was a snap -- I filled out a form, and pasted in some code to my blog template. And I do like the idea of being kinder to the visually impaired. I also like the concept of better serving those who don't find themselves in a position to read.
But how will people respond to services like Odiogo?
Labels: content ideas
¶ 10/19/2007 01:13:00 PM
