You Don't need an iPod to listen to a Podcast, just some Free Software!

You don't need an iPod to listen to a Podcast! Or to an MP3, or an Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) file, or a Windows Media Audio (WMA) file? And although iPod is an a product from Apple, in many cases you don't need any Apple products to listen to a Podcast. You just need some free software!

Why?

Because many Podcasts consists only of MP3 files that are sent or transferred from a website server to you. And you can receive and listen to MP3s with almost any PC in use today -- Windows, Macintosh, Linux, or other.

All you need is a software program on your PC called an MP3 player (although it will frequently play files other than MP3s). This software MP3 player allows you to play MP3s just like the hardware MP3 players such as the Apple iPod, Creative Zen, and a host of others.

Why?

Well an MP3 and the other types of audio files such as Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) files, Windows Media Audio (WMA), Waveform audio format (WAV), and others are digital audio files. These files contain a recording of sound that has been captured in a digital format. Wiki has this to say:

Though a WAV file can hold compressed audio, the most common WAV format contains uncompressed audio in the pulse-code modulation (PCM) format. PCM audio is the standard audio file format for CDs at 44,100 samples per second. Since PCM uses an uncompressed, lossless storage method, which keeps all the samples of an audio track, professional users or audio experts may use the WAV format for maximum audio quality. WAV audio can also be edited and manipulated with relative ease using software.

Important note! Some formats are lossy and some are lossless. Lossless means just that. None of the data from the original recording that is available is lost. A lossy format may throw or lose some of the original data in order to reduce the size of a file. The idea is to throw away only sound information that wouldn't be missed. Sometimes sounds recordings include frequencies beyond or below what most people can hear. Dropping these can make the file smaller and yet result in a file with little distinguishable sound differences from the original. But that's the kicker. There are numerous different ways and implementations of doing this. Some are free. And many are sold commercially so you must pay to use those formats.

Some files are created in such a way that encrypts the information in the file making it difficult to decode the information in it, unless you have a decryption key. This is to protect the rights of the owner of sound recording and is often referred to as digital rights management (DRM). AAC files use a DRM format developed for the iTunes store and the Apple iPod. WMA files are stored in a DRM digital audio file format created by Microsoft. That's why Apple's iPod and iTunes and Microsoft's Windows Media Player (WMP) sometimes don't play together well! As a preferred format, iTunes and the iPod use AAC while Windows Media Player uses WMA.

However, iTunes, iPod, and Windows Media Player do have at least one thing in common. They all will handle MP3s (assuming you have the correct MP3 encoder/decoder used in the MP3). And that's why you can listen to a Podcast without an iPod!

You can go to Apple's website and download iTunes for free (or you can download Quicktime with iTunes now). With iTunes you can listen a variety of different kinds digital audio files including, of course, AAC and MP3 files. With iTunes you can purchase and listen to music files from Apple's iTunes music store after you set up on account. You can also burn your music to CD if you have a CD burner (or writer). Purchased music from iTunes will incorporate DRM and is usually in the AAC format. You can also subscribe and listen to Podcasts with iTunes. But iTunes doesn't care much for WMA files.

However, if you have a Windows PC you may already have Windows Media Player on it. If you don't, you can go to Microsoft's site and download the latest and greatest for free(depending on which version of Windows you are running). Many of the online music stores (other than iTunes) sell music in the WMA format. When you purchase the music, you get a license for each WMA file and Windows Media Player will play these files (and record to CD if you have CD burner). You can also play WAV and MP3 files with Windows Media Player. Many Podcasts are also set up in a way that Windows Media Player will handle them as well!

There are also other player that will handle MP3s and other formats. Winamp is another popular choice.

And most of these MP3 players will also play streaming media or Internet radio stations!

So what are you waiting for? Jump in and join the digital audio revolution! Before you know it you'll be recording your own Podcasts and broadcasting them!