Is it a podcast or a vlog?
(February 3, 2008)


Yup! There's a difference. Even though I know the difference I've been as guilty as the masses who constantly mix these two methods up. So to make up for my transgressions and settle this for my clients and friends one last time, here's a little nomenclature 101.

Podcast

It's funny how a such a small thing makes a difference. Mr. Jobs went from portable on demand to Pod and by adding the "i" created an entirely new word. Who knew that the iPod would further impact our lives beyond listening to music? But here we have a verb and a noun that are derived from that brand name - a podcast, as in an iPod broadcast. Here is the key to what a podcast is. It can be automatically downloaded on to an iPod like device and played.

Vlog

Once again new words that didn't exist 10 years ago - vlog is derived from blog. In essence a vlog is a video blog. Like a blog it is a series of reports or commentaries, posted on the Internet in reverse chronological order, however instead of text it is in video format. Vlogs offer streaming content - you can watch it online without downloading the file. The vlog may be syndicated and aggregated. It is not necessarily downloadable or automatically downloadable.

The difference

Both digital media formats play the same type of file, can be subscribed to, syndicated, aggregated, and downloaded. So the difference is that to be labeled a podcast the item at hand MUST be able to be downloaded in an aggregated fashion to a portable player such as an iPod.

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