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As podcasting continues its exponential growth in popularity, I’m continually amazed at how quickly this new genre of media is penetrating popular culture. Likely one of the traits that makes podcasting appealing is its platform independent nature. Because podcasts aren’t tracks by paranoid profit-mongering entities such as the RIAA, they make the transition from device to device easily, allowing users to listen as they see fit. For mobile applications, users generally need to use an intermediary piece of gadgetry to move podcasts to their mobile devices. You’re not going to download podcasts directly with your ipod, so you’d better have a computer on hand if you’re dying to listen to the latest Diggnation. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a single device on which you could handle all your podcasts? Ladies and gentlemen, that day has arrived.
Sony’s Playstation Portable could be the most versatile device for enjoying podcasts to date. The beauty of course is that you’ll be handling the entire process of downloading, transporting, and listening to your podcasts with one device. While the PSP’s web browser can be admittedly a bit on slow side, if you’re a podcast fan you probably have the bookmarks on an actual desktop machine anyway. When possible, you can simple enter this bookmark into your PSP directly, providing you with a direct link to the latest podcast. Thankfully the rate at which a PSP downloads data isn’t related to its browsing speed: pulling down a 32meg podcast via a modern cable modem connection is just as quick on Sony’s handheld as your nitrogen-cooled cray supercomputer.
After saving your podcast, you can use the PSP’s built in audio player to listen, giving you full rewind, pause, and fastforward capability (one can only hope that it will get bookmarks akin to the ipod in the future!). What I love though, is that the PSP can function as a mini-boombox if need be. Traditional MP3 players can transport your media just fine, but the PSP’s self contained speakers give it a unique edge that other devices can’t beat. I’ve actually taken to loading up a podcast and carrying the PSP around in my pocket, a human broadcast solution unique to this device.
Those of you already equipped with Sony’s sleek multifunctional gaming platform owe it to yourselves to give podcasts on the PSP a try! Those that aren’t PSP owners probably shouldn’t feel bad, as the very fact that I’m pitching this means that the PSP’s game selection is decidedly lacking.
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I got my first opportunity to use the PSP when Skettios was in town. That is quite the personal media device. I was pretty blown away by the versitility of the device, but as with other things like it, i just dont think the technology is quite there yet. Im holding out for the next gen of things.
Well, the nice thing about the PSP is that it was designed with a forward thinking approach. Since its launch, multiple software updates have given it the capability to browse the web, display multiple video formats, and most recently stream podcasts via RSS!
If Sony keeps up their effort to update the PSP’s software, I think it’ll be a robust platform for years to come.
It would also be cool if someone made games for it.
i Love my PSP, cept it sits there collecting dust, because there’s not much worth doing with it. cept for occasional 30mins+ game of Luminus or some hot shots golf item collecting.
def waiting for higher storage duo sticks for blowing away the ipod video. btw, since PSP is from Sony, i’d assume the rootkit comes pre-installed? thank god Sony is a big enough company to not be interconnected to every part of its department.. *sigh*