Love the feedback this is generating – there's a real diversity of compliments, constructive criticism, comment and opinion here that's going to educate and inform the way we take this forward, so many thanks – please keep it coming (… blimey, just re-read that sentence and it sounds a bit formal/business-speakish, dunnit...!)
The TGO Bobcast will of course complement what's in the magazine and we hope it'll entertain those who already read the mag as well as those who follow the regular goings-on in Pod Cartwrights other BobCasts. And yes, of course we hope it'll also tempt a few more like-minded folk to pick up the mag afresh.
One thing we've wanted to do for years was to give people the chance to hear Jim reading his prose. I first heard him do this about three years ago at the Edinburgh Book Festival and I was blown away – what he read was one of his TGO columns from a few issues previous, but hearing it come from his own lips put it in a whole new context. He put metre into it, his emphasis was different to that which I'd "heard" in my head when I'd read it... and it became pure poetry.
Point taken, however, on the music and the sound quality.
We couldn't of course have the whole mag read aloud like that (and you wouldn't want us to… would you?). One of the joys of the written/printed word is that it's such a tremendously dense form of communication. To read out the whole magazine, I reckon, would probably take two days.
And Bob'd probably object to hosting and editing such a (worthy though it no doubt would be) lengthy BobCast.
As for the magazine being low-tech, I don't know... it's the most intense, complicated, time-consuming product we make and involves far more technology than all these new fangled digital gems!
Oh dear, it was me who said the magazine was low tech :-(
Well it is just a bit of paper with ink on delivered by a man in a red van. But then the podcast is just somebodies voice in my room, that's not high tech either, so point taken. But the podcast isn't delivered by a man in a red van, it's an internet product and we expect internet style navigation.
I see it working best with individual features, and with a correpsonding webpage with written info, pictures and the all important hyperlinks. But i don't know how this would fit in with the podcast bandwagon as I don't know how that works.
JH, would work well, look at the Security Now podcasts, they often have additional show notes, along with a transcript available online. I think that is important that any podcast has show notes that have those url's mentioned in them.
Some of these comments seem a bit negative given the unique direction TGO have taken by joining up with Bob to do their podcasts? I see the Times, Telegraph, Mirror and countless other publicaitons doing this and I reckon it adds more to their impact and reach. If radio stations were to start magazines, I don't think it would be that impressive or to those standard.
As an idea to extend the depth of the magazine each month, I applaud it, especially if they can keep it free and not charge for it. Extended interviews on audio, would have me tuning in every month without fail I don't know about you?
Bob perhaps has already set the scene and we've all become very used to the quality and range of the content, (which is pretty impressive I've got 60 odd in my iTunes listing) so the TGO show isn't totally unique from that point of view, but, bloody hell, lets give them some congratulations for giving it a go.
I went through the 'other podcaster' list on the outdoors channel the other day and ... yawn ... too long, very slow and too american. A big 'up' from me to John and Cameron, early days I know and I'm sure you'll get a formula which suits us all (or most of us) fairly soon. Absolutley fantastic idea and very much look forward to the next one!
I enjoyed it. Would have liked the timings of the contributions though. Skipped the song bit! TGO is now miles ahead of Trail, which looks more and more like an comic with every issue. Shame it was quite innovative a few years ago.
Bob should be congratulated on the amazing quality of all of his podcasts.
