MIT Plans To Convert Cell Phone Users Into Podcasters 90
robyn217 writes "A new research project at MIT's Media Lab, entitled RadioActive, aims to turn every cell phone or PDA carrying member of the public into a podcaster, and every mobile device into a virtual podcasting studio. The project defines a large-scale asynchronous audio messaging system in which voice messages can be threaded like text in a discussion forum (like on Slashdot) as a method of 'discussion-on-demand.'"
PODCAST IS JUST A FANCY WAY OF SAYING "PUTTING AN (Score:3, Insightful)
[x] confirm
Re:PODCAST IS JUST A FANCY WAY OF SAYING "PUTTING (Score:1)
KFG
Re:PODCAST IS JUST A FANCY WAY OF SAYING "PUTTING (Score:2, Redundant)
Re:PODCAST IS JUST A FANCY WAY OF SAYING "PUTTING (Score:1)
Re:PODCAST IS JUST A FANCY WAY OF SAYING "PUTTING (Score:2, Informative)
Re:PODCAST IS JUST A FANCY WAY OF SAYING "PUTTING (Score:4, Insightful)
An mp3 on the internet is an audio download
An RSS feed that contains audio downloads for the purpose of automatic and easy synchronisation to a digital audio player is a podcast.
People like the linked article don't know what they're talking about when they say that an ordainary download can be called a podcast. You could call it a threaded audio message board, but it wouldn't be a podcast.
One disadvantage to discussion boards that are audio based is that you can't search or index the information without some kind of speech-to-text recognition.
That said, what if you could search audio by speaking into a mic and having the search engine search for those sounds. An intersting case, humm.......
Re:PODCAST IS JUST A FANCY WAY OF SAYING "PUTTING (Score:1)
Re:UK Law May Criminalise MIT Plans (Score:1)
The UK government is already proposing to criminalise its use as all internet activity supports child porn and terrorist activity.
Re:UK Law May Criminalise MIT Plans (Score:2)
If you wouldn't mind coming down to the station to prove your use of this phrase was indeed innocent, we can forgo the unpleasant step of siezing all your assets until they can be checked for Compliance.
Cheers,
your Elder Sibling.
Re:Isn't this just want the CIA (Score:2)
NSA wants to turn your phone calls into podcasts.
Redundant? WTF? (Score:1, Offtopic)
Re:Redundant? WTF? (Score:2)
Offtopic? WTF? (Score:2)
Hey I can do this all day. Bring on the next brain-dead mod:)
Instant discussions! (Score:3, Funny)
Quality counts, not quantity. (Score:3, Interesting)
There are some very high quality podcasts and these will take approx 10 hours of editing etc per hour of audio, but for the most part podcasting is becoming a way for people to dump their vacant minds on audio. Podcasting is much like blogging in that respect except it is far easier to generate a crap podcast (push mike button and spew for
Their last good idea... (Score:2)
That's nice... (Score:3, Insightful)
Blocking IM spam on Verizon (Score:2)
This works for me since the only email I ever intend to get via my phone is pages from my own personal servers.
Re:That's nice... (Score:2)
Yes...and yet oddly nobody is forcing you to buy a phone with this feature or forcing you to use it. Every story like this someone whines that all they want is a simple cell phone that just makes calls.
They sell those. Quit whining, go to a manufacturers website and find one, buy it, and shut the hell up.
Re:That's nice... (Score:2)
Re:That's nice... (Score:2)
Yes.....and my point was that we got the hint the first 50,000 times people bitched and moaned when we had stories about new cell phone features.
We get the hint, no need to repeat it. Its really not appropriate for this kind of discussion.
Hey I'm not You! (Score:2)
You heard me: I don't own a cell phone. I actually can't stand phones in general. My friends who have figured this out call me and our conversations go like this:
Me: Hello?
Him: Hey, when does Drop Trio start?
Me: 9:30
Him: Cool, see you there
(hangs up)
I like strong, quick entry-and-exit points for conversations. An audio version of what is essentially a message board is
Re:That's nice... (Score:1)
Incidentally, I really hate to sound like a troll, but I'm not impressed by the Media Lab's research anymore. I say this as someone whose looking for a research area for grad school. All of the "really cool" research seems to be elsewhere. While MIT certainly has a lot of good research and good degree programs; MIT used to be syno
Obligatory (Score:3, Funny)
Google (Score:1)
Voice conversations on the Internet... (Score:1)
I think if this public service announcement [machinima.com] teaches us anything, it's that voice debate on the Internet is a bad thing.
Re:Like Slashdot, you say? (Score:2)
Re:Like Slashdot, you say? (Score:2)
Great (Score:2, Insightful)
Just imagine if ever
Re:Great (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Great (Score:2)
Yeah...I wanted to uh comment on post one five three six eight six four and uh
Re:Great (Score:1)
Re:Great (Score:1)
Solution looking for a problem... (Score:2, Funny)
I guess what they REALLY need is a life. This is just bandaid'ing the underlying problem.
Ohh thats lucky (Score:1)
Wouldn't phones be a lot nicer if they were just plain and simple? I hear the Japanese market is shifting back towards simplicity in the phone market, surely the rest of the world should hurry up and follow their lead.
Just a thought..
Re:Ohh thats lucky (Score:2, Interesting)
Mine is quite nice as it is. No color display, no MP3 player, no camera, heck I'm not even sure I can download ringtones to it. I've had it for nearly three years and it works just great for exactly what I need it for - making phone calls.
When my husband got his first cel phone last year, he was annoyed that the most basic free one they'd give him was a flip-phone with a color display. He wanted one as simple as mine.
Re:Ohh thats lucky (Score:2)
Re:Ohh thats lucky (Score:1)
Re:Ohh thats lucky (Score:2, Interesting)
I live in Tokyo half the year and I'm much more likely to see people video conferencing or using 3D GPS mapping, or using it as a credit card than using the grandpa phone [nttdocomo.co.jp]. Of course people hardly talk on the phone in Japan. My Japanese calling plan give me 50 minutes of talk time a month, but unlimited text messages (the most popular plan with my carrier). In hind sight I should have gotten the 10 minute
Not quite (Score:2)
Re:One day.... (Score:2)
Re:One day.... (Score:2)
yay!
I Don't See the Point... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I Don't See the Point... (Score:1)
Every cell-phone enabled citizen would be able to broadcast the truth of whatever is happening anywhere. Bush won't let protesters near a rally? Crash the party. What are they going to do, arrest everyone with a cell phone? The pictures of the Secret Service trying to arrest hundreds of people doing nothing more than exercising their constitutional rights are money-in-the-bank news coverage. Are you the guy who tells people wearing Kerry shirts to Bush rallies that they're not allowe
Follow the money (Score:2)
is a grant for this tied to the pile o cash just delivered to verizon from the boyus at NSA?
I'm sure... (Score:1)
The phone companies will love it too as users minutes skyrocket.
Now if only they could teach my sister to lock her keypad so she doesn't call me or podcast from her purse.
Re:I'm sure... (Score:1)
Ask very politely.
What?
I can see it now... (Score:3, Funny)
not as much podcasting (Score:3, Informative)
its only 'podcasting' in the sense that you're recording audio for others consumption. its much more about the discussions within a community (local physical/social context)....
For more info here's the project website [mit.edu]
this was recently used in the elens [mit.edu] project, and its video can be found here [mit.edu].
a live demo should be up this weekend
Re:not as much podcasting (Score:1)
Version 4 in eLens - better movie big (58.5mb) [mit.edu]
Version 4 in eLens - better movie small (22.3mb) [mit.edu]
Doesn't Livejournal ALREADY do this? (Score:1)
Re:Doesn't Livejournal ALREADY do this? (Score:1)
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Similiar to Vaestro.com (Score:3, Interesting)
Slashdot is sucessful because you can skim... (Score:1)
Neither is it reasonable to assume that we could convert it all to text to scan it either - this is cell phones with tiny screens; they simply can't scan through volumes of data.
Would YOU read
Now *there's* a good idea (Score:2)
CB radios with bad antennas on noisy channels get better sound quality than mobile phones. This is useless...
By God! (Score:2)
I call it "Soapboxcasting."
It requires a soapbox; climbing up on the soapbox somehow (I think AJAX will make that simple). Then, after exchanging headers with the recipients, you simply start talking, utilizing the already largely available atmosphere to transmit the soundwaves.
This is going to completely revolutionize the world as we know it! Just think about it, one soapboxcast at every street corner. And how simple it is, u
How very analog of you! (Score:2)
The best way to make something lame (Score:2)
LiveJournal already has something like this... (Score:2)
Meanwhile, Odeo.com [odeo.com] allows anyone with a computer and a microphone to become a podcaster, using simplified Flash-based audio tools [odio.com]. Hook a phone interface to Odeo and you'd probably be set.
Re:LiveJournal already has something like this... (Score:2)
First throughts..... (Score:2)
Lovely! (Score:1)
Antitrust (Score:1)
In which case, I'll take RLC, and I'll see y'all around.
How delightful! (Score:1)