ResourceBlog Article: Sullivan's Daily Searchcast Now Available on Your Phone, Simply Dial (+1 (512) 696-0729) and Listen

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Thursday, 30th August 2007

Sullivan's Daily Searchcast Now Available on Your Phone, Simply Dial (+1 (512) 696-0729) and Listen

Simply dial: +1 (512) 696-0729 and you can now listen to The Daily SearchCast with Danny Sullivan.

It's a given that Danny Sullivan is not only a top-tier search guru, a great writer, a former boss, and a superb person, but also the host of a very popular podcast about search, search optimization, search marketing, etc. The program is called the Daily Searchcast and will also be of interest to info pros. Why? It's essential that info professionals have some knowledge of the business of web search. Of course, the program also talks about issues of direct interest to the information industry.

Yesterday we posted about the coming age of the cellcast or mobilcast (you choose the term). Actually, it's something we've been seeing coming for almost a year. More in the post but the bottom line will be that downloading and then listening will eventually become a thing of the past or an "extra" step. Either you'll stream directly to your smartphone, iPhone, Treo, BlackBerry, etc. (this includes live content) if you have the proper software and a plan that can handle the bandwidth without forcing you to go broke.

But, what about others as of today? For example, those who:
1) don't have the proper phone
2) those who don't pay for unlimited or large amounts of bandwidth
3) those who can't use the tools correctly (ie. have the required software)
4) those who just want to listen. Said another way, no learning curve please.

The answer, and again more in yesterday's post is being able to dial a phone number, and listen. Greg Linden might say that this is grandma friendly.

Even grandma or grandpa will most likely be able to dial +1 (512) 696-0729 and listen. Yes, it will still cost you the minutes to listen. However, with so many services offering very inexpensive time, it's much less of a deal vs. just a few years ago. Of course, you can also dial-in from a landline.

Remember, that those of use who are search geeks, info geeks, IT geeks, etc. make-up only a very small portion of the Internet user base. It's important that we don't forget this. Technology is a tool but not THE answer and something this simple can take an idea (the podcast) and make them more accessible to all.

Those of you with library podcasts might want to consider using a service like Podlinez. It could make your program more accessible to those who don't have the knowledge of skills to listen to the show in its traditional format.

Simply dial +1 (512) 696-0729
and the latest Daily SearchCast begins playing.

Yes, some might start thinking of the ad and branding possibilities. Lots to think about. For now, archived shows are not available via dial-up but can be streamed or downloaded from the programs web page.

Thanks to our friend and colleague, Danny Sullivan, for allowing us to sample Podlinez (not to be confused with RSS aggregator Bloglines) to make The Daily SearchCast dial-up ready.

Yes, of course, given the low-bandwidth of a phone call, all of this works best for spoken word material. If you have unlimited bandwidth and the proper type of phone and software (and some good headphones) the quality of streaming to your phone gets better all of the time.

Btw, UpSNAP, also offers a bunch of content that's accessible by simply dialing a phone number. Some of it's free, other content is fee-based. Here's an example of some of the podcasts they make available.
See Also: UpSNAP Offers Urban Content Package for Mobile User