HEY!

I didn't start this iPOS digression. I was answering a specific question that was posed on 02/18/2007, 10:39 am.

Up until that time, my comments were strictly limited to the podcast scam.

And no, I'm not "Applephobic." I simply abhor the kind of posturing that Apple tends to do.

Let's just say that learnfrenchbypodcast is only free if you don't need the manuals - it's far too advanced for dc4united. And leave it at that.

You can watch French in Action free on the net. You just have to sign up:

http://www.learner.org/resources/series83.html

I like the Pimsleur language programs if you want to learn fast. They are expensive but I am able to check the DVD's out from my library. I have also purchased them on e-bay and then resold them after "using" them.

You gotta check out the bbc site from willtravel- I have been wandering around on it and for a traveler it is great - lets you print out the phrases - does l many languages and includes mp3 download ( that is where I went) which they call language quick fixes - this way you can appeal to your aural or visual needs and take it with you on paper, computer and cd or some kind of mp3 player -thanks willtravel for your insight!

Podcasts existed before Apple integrated them into iTunes.

However, iTunes automates the downloading of podcasts you want to listen to on a regular basis.

There is certainly a lot of other free software which does this.

But iTunes does a good job and a lot of people use iTunes for podcasts, even if they don't have iPods.

Would there be as much activity in the production of podcasts, most of which are absolutely free to subscribe to and ad-free, if Apple hadn't helped popularize them?

Tens of millions of iPods and way more in iTunes downloads made podcasts a mass medium.

I think you're badly misunderestimating [<i>sic</i>] the vast number of audio downloading sites that existed when iPOS was still Steve Jobs' wet dream.

What he is <i>trying</i> to do is to lock up a proprietary DRM architecture that only HE has the key to.

Re-naming audio downloads to &quot;podcasts&quot; is part of the strategy. Read <u>1984</u> and you'll understand better.

Come on, guys! Back to the OP's question.

The Bathroom Monitor hath spoken.

Robespierre, relax! No more posts on this from me.

I'm already relaxed. It's you who seems to be uptight about the direction of this thread. So if you don't post again, that will work for me.

I'd like to try an Italian tutorial podcast. Any recommendations?

Go to iTunes Music Store and search for &quot;Italy&quot; or &quot;Italian.&quot;

You will get hits in all categories but you have to select Podcasts. Then from those, some will specifically be for language.

One I found is learnitalianpod.com.

Bookmarking to try some of these sites later. I use my Pimsleur tapes for review constantly and highly recommend them. Expensive, but well worth it (especially is you already know a little French grammar). But variety is good!

bookmarking -thanks

scrb -Thanks. I should have been more specific in my previous post. I'm looking for a free Italian language podcast.

That is completely free. I subscribe to that and have dozens of different lessons from that and I've not paid a single dime for it.

iTunes is a free download.

But you can also go to learnitalianpod.com and manually download each lesson there as they appear or you can subscribe to an RSS feed there with iTunes or some other software and it will automatically download them for you each time there is a new one.

Completely free.

&quot;I think you're badly misunderestimating [sic] the vast number of audio downloading sites that existed when iPOS was still Steve Jobs' wet dream.

What he is trying to do is to lock up a proprietary DRM architecture that only HE has the key to.

Re-naming audio downloads to &quot;podcasts&quot; is part of the strategy. Read 1984 and you'll understand better.&quot;

Did Jobs come up with the name &quot;Podcasts&quot;?

I'm pretty sure &quot;podcasts&quot; existed before Jobs first publicly demonstrated the &quot;podcast&quot; features in iTunes and iPod.

It was actually at a D Conference hosted by the WSJ a few years back. (Incidentally, Jobs and Gates will be sharing a stage at this year's D Conference in May).

But Apple has really tried to play up the &quot;pod&quot; in &quot;podcasts&quot; trying to associate it with iPod and iTunes. To a certain extent, that has succeeded as many people who don't have iPods use iTunes to manage their podcast subscriptions because a lot of podcast producers work to get their podcasts on the iTunes directory, one of the most visible, if not the most visible podcast directories.

Oh and podcasts in iTunes are completely free and there is absolutely no DRM on them. So you can subscribe to podcasts in iTunes and if you have another player, manually drag the files which were automatically downloaded by iTunes, onto another player.

Just wondering if it's my computer or do other people find that their internet transmissions of programs like French in Action tend to freeze?
I sometimes find the same thing with some French radio programs, but I can usually get those back on track more easily than FIA.

letour

I really like rocketfrench.com. It's cheap and full-featured.