I don’t have an IPod, but even for listening to podcasts on my desktop, a podcast mananger is indispensible. I have been using ipodder to automatically download the 10 or so podcasts I regularly listen to, but I have found it to be a little buggy and slow. I do like the ITunes integration, where it puts each podcast into its own playlist, although I’ve always wished I could have a “podcast” folder with subfolders for individual podcasts, but subdirectories are not possible in ITunes. Now, the new version of ITunes has its own podcast thing. The new service puts them in a “Podcast” section, which lists each podcast with expandable lists showing each episode. The selection process is run through the ITunes Store section, and the “Get” button looks too much like the “Buy” button for me. I can’t tell yet whether I can manually add URLs, but if I can, I might switch over.
Note: I know I have previously stated a mission to move completely to open source, but I have slowly slipped into an all Microsoft/Apple habit, even using ITunes as my primary jukebox. Although I did lapse into an Outlook/Entourage phase for a little while, I am back to Mozilla Thunderbird. And, of course, Firefox.
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