Skip to main content

Podcasting & Cars

I'm totally addicted to Podcasting. My main source of Podcast marterial is Doug Kaye's "The Conversations Network" which covers an enormous variety of conferences and other interesting conversations. I'm able to make much better use of almost three hours every day with Podcasting [two hours during my commute & an hour when I walk & exercise] . But this has some implications and that's where the "& Cars" comes in.

Many people have observed that Podcasting is taking share from mainstream Media [e.g. I never listen to radio anymore, even PBS] and that its business model is disruptive. But I discovered another little subtly of Podcasting that's a bit problematic. I listen to my iPod via a pair of good noise-cancelling headphones. The obvious benefit is great audio quality. But there is a downside that I discovered today. It's kind of a guy thing. You get accustomed to the sounds that your car makes especially if you like cars and you kind of know what's making those sounds. Good sounds [remember that cool rumble of glass-packs] are like a security blanket that make you feel good without your being consious of it. Bad sounds that you shouldn't hear, even though they are still subtle, are a warning to get it fixed before it becomes a disaster. Listening to Podcast via headphones make all those sounds go away!

Have I lost touch with my inner carbureator? Oh my god, I think I have...and that's kind of sad.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

John Malone on America and Obama

You just have to love Dr. John Malone. The guy's a certified genius but also a "what you see is what you get" straight-shooting kind of guy. His Ph.D. is from Johns Hopkins, BA is science from Yale, worth $2.3 billion (according to Forbes, but probably way low because they just couldn't find all of it). He ran TCI (America's largest Cable company) and sold it to ATT for $54 billion. He's the kind of person that you could just sit and listen to for hours. He's so logical, well informed and well spoken. In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal here's a few nuggets from what he had to say... (I agree with him about Obama) WSJ: What are the biggest risks for Liberty right now? Mr. Malone: I think the biggest concern I have for the next year or two would be on the retail side, because of the consumer sentiment and the macro conditions. The concerns really tend to be much more macro: Is America going to make it, rather than are we going to make it?...

Barry Schwartz - The Paradox of Choice

MediaPost Publications - Americans Get More Channels, Watch Fewer Of Them, Especially Broadcast - 03/13/2006 Ironically, Barry Schwartz spoke at PC Forum last night about the Paradox of Choice, and what did I wake up to this morning. Another possible example of too much choice in the channels people have to choose from on television. I wonder whether the "a la carte" crowd has thought about this problem. I'll have to ask Prof. Schwartz about that today.

The Evolving Internet: A look ahead to 2025 by Cisco and the Monitor Group's Global Business Network

My employer (Cisco) published its most recent forward looking study of the Internet today. It's called " The Evolving Internet: A look ahead to 2025 by Cisco and the Monitor Group's Global Business Network " and although I haven't studied it in detail yet, I scanned it this morning and I liked what I saw. Those who know me will not be surprised that I particularly liked the three dimensional evaluation criteria that they used to frame their analysis. Lately nearly everything I do ends up finding its way into some sort of analytical cube like this. I've been wondering whether there is something wrong with me that I can't seem to frame things simply in two dimensions. Glad to have company.