a n d r e w – i r v i n e . c o . u k

Podcast Mini-rant

// October 13th, 2008 // Geeky Stuff, General

So who in the UK watches video podcasts about gadgets?

I like possibly* many other fellow UK-eans like watching video podcasts on gadgets and upcoming technology. The problem I’m facing is that there’s very few out there that are decent. I stick to one at the moment – Sky News Technofile. It’s informative, varied, and ENGLISH! However it’s only weekly, and I want a podcast that’s updated more frequently.

So in my search for a suitable podcast, I found two others that fit the bill: Channel 10 and GeekBrief.TV. However, I have pet peeves with both of these…

Channel 10

Channel 10 goes all over the place. If there’s an event, such as E3 or CeBIT, they’re there! Getting news from the current shows is always a good thing. They don’t only cover gadgets but also video games, and sometimes dedicate individual episodes to specific topics which is a nice thing from time to time. An episode pretty much every day is made available to the public, so there’s no shortage of clips… but they’re SO biased towards bloody Microsoft!!!

Maybe they’re tightly associated with them, or they’re sponsoring them or something, but that really knarks me off! They cover all the beta software that Microsoft are doing as if each one was the best thing since sliced bread, the Zune is better for your health than Omega3 (which I’m not chuffed about either, but that can wait until later), and I’m sure they would rag the X-box until it got a red ring of death if it was humanly/technologically possible! Ya know guys, there are other companies out there other than Microsoft. Ever heard of Sony, Nokia, Nintendo, or Samsung?

GeekBrief.TV

GeekBrief.TV don’t go out as often, but they do cover more geeky stuff such as weird gadgets, cameras, and so on, which is what I’m really looking for. The podcast is updated roughly four times a week, which is plenty, and the presenter is certainly easy on the eye. They don’t cover games but that’s not a problem as there’s no shortage of gaming podcasts. They’re sponsored by a couple of various means, which means they plug either a domain name website or some sort of storage solution at the end of each clip, but it’s non-intrusive and it’s a nice way of telling me “The show’s over. Move along.”. Also, they’re not biased towards Microsoft. Great…

…except, instead, they’re biased towards bloody Apple! If there’s anything Apple do, they cover it! If the iPhone get’s a new firmware, they make a point of talking about it! When any new iPod comes out, they dedicate a whole episode to unboxing the damn thing! Two words… Big Whoop!! If they’re gonna cover phone firmwares, why not the Nokia E90’s big jump to v300? Why not unbox a new Creative Zen when it comes out? Come on guys!

Here’s the thing… each of these have their problems but there’s one underpinning feature of both of these that I truly hate… they cater for AMERICA! Everything’s in dollars! Release dates are wrong! They don’t pronounce words properly and they talk ten to the sodding dozen! All these problems are why I find myself going back to Sky News’ Technofile… it’s British, it’s unbiased, and the presenter(s) aren’t stuck in fast forward!

Don’t get me wrong, they both do a good job, but they’re both annoying enough that I won’t watch them that much. Maybe I’m not looking in the right places, but I want a british gadget podcast! Is that too much to ask? Maybe I should start one myself. I’ve got my ear to the ground. We’ll see…

Oh, and my problem with Omega3… it seems to be the the token nutritian of the year. Someone says its good for you, and then suddenly it’s in everything! I’m sorry, but I’m not gonna buy a loaf of bread or a block of butter JUST because it has Omega3 in it! If I was really that concerned about it, I’d have more fish, eggs, and certain beef and lamb. When you’re reaching for that Omega3-infested product again, just remember: it can decrease your immune system, it’s not good for those with congestive heart failure, and it’s even worse for diabetics. Still want that new Omega3 milk that’s come out?

*Not based on any kind of research whatsoever

UPDATE

I decided that I would ask the creators of both these podcasts to see why they’re so biased. When I checked for contact details on the Channel 10 website, I noticed it read:

“This site is hosted for Microsoft by ORCSWEB Copyright 2007-2008 Microsoft”

…on the bottom. Well, that’s one answer received.

I’ve sent an email to the makers of GeekBrief.TV to see what they have to say.

UPDATE #2

I sent an email to the makers of GeekBrief.TV and got a response from Cali Lewis herself. Nice of her really, considering she was on the road to some technology event at the time, really nice. In so many words she basically said that she personally likes the iPhone as she feels it’s intuitive in it’s use.

Now that… is fair enough. She likes the product so she promotes it. I suppose if I was doing a podcast, I would promote Symbian-powered products. At least she’s not doing it because she was coerced into it by Apple, and that really was my main concern.