I've had a number of people ask me recently if and when I might offer an enhanced AAC podcast feed for Dave's Lounge. There are two reasons why I've never offered an AAC version of this show.
The first is that I don't want to limit my audience to iTunes and iPod users. MP3 is still the most popular and most portable file format for audio, and if I switched to AAC, I would immediately lose about 8% of my total audience. My goal has always been to attract as many new listeners as possible, and it's easier to do that with MP3 files rather than AAC files. If every digital audio player out there played AAC files, it might be different, but for now, MP3 is the best way to reach everyone.
The second reason is that I don't really want to create two separate feeds for MP3 and AAC listeners. You can chalk that up to time constraints or laziness or whatever, but I feel better knowing that there's one feed where everyone can go to get the latest episode of Dave's Lounge. It just feels more inclusive that way.
There's also the fact that I don't own a Mac, but I suppose that's neither here nor there, is it?
So that's why I only produce shows in MP3 format. I won't say it'll be like that forever, but until AAC overtakes MP3 as the audio format of choice for everyone on every platform (Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.), this podcast will remain an MP3, because that allows everyone to come to Dave's Lounge.
:thumbsup:
I don’t own any Apple stuff and this won’t change with an iPhone, or any other iCrap.
I’m listening to your Podcast at home (Linux), at work (Windows) or in my car, after having copied the .mp3 on an SD-memory card.
But is it really true that only 8% of your listeners fetch your feed with another programme than itunes?
omg
hey, the same happened to me, but some one recommended a program called NoteBurner to me, It is really a cute program. It can convert all music i purchased from itunes to mp3 easily.
Hi Dave,
yes, great decision … like most people I know I don’t have an iPod but (some) standard mp3-players (yes, one Rio 500 🙂
Converting everything from aac to mp3 might be possible but it’s a pain in the a** that I’d like to avoid
Good decision. Personally I see no need for pictures, as this is an (easy) listening show. If for some reason you do feel the need to create one with pictures, use the audio+ format.