PodBlaze Launches With A Thud
So I saw the press release heralding the official launch of PodBlaze, a podcast services site that claims they've made podcasting "so easy even your Mom can do it." I checked out the site and I found a thin directory of podcasts. Of course I added my Podcast NYC podcasts. I then set out to explore the features for listeners and producers. For listeners you can browse the directory for podcasts and click links that take you to either the podcast home page or a PodBlaze page with a Wimpy based flash player. People who sign up with PodBlaze will have the pages with the Wimpy player and their "podcasts" will be listed in the player.
The two observations that I have from this are first that I can't find an RSS feed on any of the pages that are hosted by PodBlaze, only streaming from the Wimpy player. So that's not a podcast. The second thing is the fact that they're using the Wimpy player which isn't the most elegant solution. Couldn't they have invested some money into developing a custom flash player? There also doesn't appear to be any meaningful way to display show notes. This is not a prescription for a great listening experience. Okay, so three observations.
PodBlaze has posted a video to describe how easy it is for a producer to create a podcast. Of course, the most difficult part of "creating" a podcast involves recording and editing the audio. PodBlaze doesn't handle any of that. PodBlaze allows the user to create a podcast "station" by filling in a few forms and uploading a file. It appears from the demo that the max file size for upload is 15mb. That's a small file size for a podcast and not very useful to people who produce stereo music podcasts or spoken word podcasts over 30 minutes in length. Once a podcast is uploaded, users who view the flash player will also see an ad on top of the flash player. All of the players currently have a link to the Verizon telephone website. I'm assuming that they get some real advertisers sometime soon.
In general, I'd say it's a disappointing product that they're offering considering that they're pitching the site as a podcasting site. The directory is thin, there are no RSS feeds to be found, the technology used is weak at best and the podcast producer section is ridiculously short on features. I can't recommend using this service if you want to subscribe to podcasts or create podcast feeds. I can recommend Big Contact which provides all the services that PodBlaze hopes to provide and does it much better.
The two observations that I have from this are first that I can't find an RSS feed on any of the pages that are hosted by PodBlaze, only streaming from the Wimpy player. So that's not a podcast. The second thing is the fact that they're using the Wimpy player which isn't the most elegant solution. Couldn't they have invested some money into developing a custom flash player? There also doesn't appear to be any meaningful way to display show notes. This is not a prescription for a great listening experience. Okay, so three observations.
PodBlaze has posted a video to describe how easy it is for a producer to create a podcast. Of course, the most difficult part of "creating" a podcast involves recording and editing the audio. PodBlaze doesn't handle any of that. PodBlaze allows the user to create a podcast "station" by filling in a few forms and uploading a file. It appears from the demo that the max file size for upload is 15mb. That's a small file size for a podcast and not very useful to people who produce stereo music podcasts or spoken word podcasts over 30 minutes in length. Once a podcast is uploaded, users who view the flash player will also see an ad on top of the flash player. All of the players currently have a link to the Verizon telephone website. I'm assuming that they get some real advertisers sometime soon.
In general, I'd say it's a disappointing product that they're offering considering that they're pitching the site as a podcasting site. The directory is thin, there are no RSS feeds to be found, the technology used is weak at best and the podcast producer section is ridiculously short on features. I can't recommend using this service if you want to subscribe to podcasts or create podcast feeds. I can recommend Big Contact which provides all the services that PodBlaze hopes to provide and does it much better.
Recommend Podcast NYC To Your Friends
posted by PodcastNYC.net at 11:28 PM
4 Comments:
If you set up the podcast on podblaze.com it automatically creates and rss 2.0 feed, which is in fact a valid podcast.
You can upgrade from a free status to paid and upload much larger podcast files. The directory just launched 7 days ago and has over 200 podcasts and growing daily. Every listing in the directory has an rss feed.
While browsing as an unregistered guest on the site I went to several PodBlaze podcasts and only found a Wimpy player and no RSS feeds. So I see that there are RSS feeds on the main directory page but I don't see where you would get the RSS feed off of the podcast specific page.
I also don't understand why PodBlaze wouldn't "seed" their directory with the thousands of available categorized podcasts available from iPodder.org. Each of the nodes is provided in OPML that can be used by other sites.
As far as larger file sizes are concerned, there was nothing in the video (or on the site that I could find) that explained the levels of service.
So as an advanced podcast listener/producer my honest opinion is that there are some critical shortcomings with the service and it's presentation. I'll definitely keep my eye on it and re-assess in the near future as the site is updated.
Not including an RSS link on the subdomain home pages was indeed an unfortunate oversight.
The code that keeps these pages updated has been modified so that the link appears, in the form of the familiar orange XML button. These podcast-specific pages (belonging to our Producer members) are dynamically rebuilt whenever they edit anything in their podcast. So it will take a little time for all of them to begin showing off the XML link. New accounts will, of course have the link immediately from now on.
Other improvements are in the works, based on feedback from beta testers and current users. Overall, user feedback and comments we've seen on other blogs and forums has been
90% positive. We're striving for 100% and we will achieve it.
Best of luck with those updates. I've been beta testing Odeo and I can tell you that they are way ahead of you as far as robustness of the directory, ease of use and listening/subscribing choices. The best piece of advice that I can give you is to set better expectations when you launch a product or a service. I'd like to see PodBlaze compete with Odeo, PodNova and all the other sites that want to set the standard for management, creation and subscription to podcasts. That's why I provide very frank feedback in my blog.
PS: Why not use the OPML files from iPodder to seed your directory? And what are the levels of service?
Post a Comment
<< Home