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Each week you can catch up on any sermon that you missed by downloading them from the main sermon downloads page.
However if you would like to subscribe to our free FBC podcast, you will receive the sermon recording each week as part of the podcast 'feed' (you will receive it as soon as we have added it). This podcast feed allows us to send other types of recorded content to you as well, for example we may have special interviews with missionaries or members, or perhaps a message from the pastor at certain times. If you would like to find out more about podcasts, please read the section below. If you would like to go ahead and subscribe, please do so in one of the following ways.
If you are interested in subscribing to the podcast but are unsure about any of these methods or what it's really all about, then please read the section below or if you need more help feel free to contact Dave Valler .
What is a Podcast?
Technical description from Wikipedia:
A podcast is a digital media file, or a series of such files, that is distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and personal computers. A podcast is a specific type of webcast which, like 'radio', can mean either the content itself or the method by which it is syndicated; the latter is also termed podcasting. The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster. The term "podcast" is a portmanteau of the name of Apple's portable music player, the iPod, and broadcast; a "pod" refers to the iPod, and "cast" to the idea of broadcasting.
In other words, a podcast is a collection of files (usually audio but may include video) residing at a unique web feed address. People can "subscribe" to this feed by submitting the feed address to an aggregator (like iTunes - software that runs on the consumer's computer). When new "episodes" become available in the podcast they will be automatically downloaded to that user's computer. Unlike radio or streaming content on the web, podcasts are not real-time. The material is pre-recorded and users can check out the material at their leisure, offline.
In short please?
A Podcast is (normally) a regular recording of something that can be subscribed to. It stems from the words "iPod" and "Broadcast". You do not need an iPod to listen to a podcast.
What is the benefit of a Podcast?
Podcasting is like the 'Sky Plus' of the radio world. It means you can listen to any show you like, whenever you like. once you have subscribed to a podcast, it will keep downloading any new episodes until you tell it to stop.
So for example, if you like watching the BBC 10 o clock news but you are always out at 10pm, you can subscribe to the '10 o clock news podcast' (which the BBC make of their news broadcast). It will then automatically download the 10 o clock news to your computer every time they add a new episode (presumably sometime after 10pm every day).
So why not just go to the BBC website and watching the news from there?
When you subscribe to a podcast it actually downloads the episode to your computer giving you maximum control over how and when you use it. When you watch a news bulletin online for example, it only 'streams' the audio or video. This means the quality is often worse, you can't fast forward until the whole episode has loaded, and you are restricted to only viewing it on that computer at that time, if you come back later you will have to stream it all over again.
So why subscribe to something like the Finchampstead Baptist Sermon podcast? I can just download whatever sermon I like from the website?
Of course that is true, and you will always have the option to directly download the sermon from this site. However if you subscribe to the podcast, you don't have to remember to go to the website and download the sermon, it will download it automatically for you as soon as the new one is available. That means if you missed the sermon and want to download it, you don't have to keep checking the website to see if it's been added because as soon as it's ready it will automatically appear on your computer and the downloading time and hassle was done automatically while you were busy, or asleep! You can also select to easily grab past sermons and they are all organised in one place.
Why is 'Pod' in the name if it has nothing to do with the iPod?
The iPod device has come to represent something, which perhaps could be defined as 'digital media on the move'. It is also the device you need to play content from the iTunes software. iTunes was one of the forerunners in providing a large database of podcasts and a section in the software where they can be downloaded and organised.
The name 'Podcast' was invented by an American MTV host called Adam Curry. If you are an American then the words 'podcast' and 'broadcast' rhyme.
The name may have stuck because in fact the iPod is an ideal device for listening to podcasts. The device synchronises with iTunes every time you connect the iPod to the computer, so the idea is if you leave your iPod connected to your computer overnight then iTunes will automatically download all your podcasts and it will immediately send them to your iPod and organise them. So all you have to do is get up in the morning, grab your iPod and you can instantly listen to anything you're interested in. Like a radio broadcast, whenever you want it, on your iPod.
In reality you can listen to or watch a podcast on any mp3 or mp4 player, but none of them sync up with iTunes except an iPod.
Does it cost to subscribe?
No. Virtually every podcast out there is free and you can normally find one on whatever topic you are interested in.
Subscribing to a podcast is a great way to keep up to date with a particular topic and you can easily unsubscribe when you no longer want to receive new episodes.
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