Week 9: Exercise #21 Podcasts

I thought learning would be easy and smooth for me toward the end. However, it was not true for the Podcasts exercise. First, I thought a PC and a speaker would be enough for me to start. I explored Podcast.net first but it requires download of QuickTime. I encountered to shut down my computer for two times then had to restart. It also took me a while to locate a favorite podcast. Finally I found one that I enjoyed. It is called Nature Cures Clinic Health Chat, which is a good program discusses the various topics relate to health and disease with alternate and contemporary treatment.

I turned to Podcastalley.com to see if I had better luck. Unfortunately, its layout and the quality of the content were unbearable. I tried some searches and found the results were just far behind my expectation.

The last shot was Yahoo podcasts. I liked it the best. The layout, the coverage and the content was the best among all the three podcast directories. It was so easy to get what I want and without even asking me to download additional program to listen. I found several podcasts that I liked such as NPR: Story of the Day, Inside Silicon Valley, ESL learning etc.

I especially liked the features What We Like and What Other People Like. In my opinion, this organized feature will help numerous users access at least something they enjoyed with the least efforts.

Now I have one question.

Do I have to install QuickTime or iTunes to hear some podcasts? I saw the license mark from Apple, is there any copyright issue associated with those podcasts?

Thanks for your answer!