When I first heard that iTunes was going to support podcasting, I was naturally excited. However I think Apple has done a poor job of implementing and integrating podcasting into iTunes. I recommend that you consider taking a look at iPodderX.

There are too many features that are missing from iTunes 4.9 compared to iPodderX or even the open source project iPodder. For one thing, why should I have to have iTunes running to see if there are new podcasts that I have subscribed to? iTunes should a service at scheduled intervals check the RSS feed of the subscribed podcast, if a new podcast exists, download it and have it ready for me to listen to. iPodderX does this very well, and this feature alone is worth the price of the product.

A feature I like of iPodderX is its ability to create playlists for each specific podcast. It makes it very easy to find what I want to listen to.

A complaint that I have heard from others, is that it should not be up to Apple on what podcasts should make the list. (Thank the maker, at least its not Microsoft!). The ability to find a new podcast from an unknown person, is what made podcasting interesting!. The top 100 iTunes podcasts are becoming more of the commercial programs that you can hear on the good old radio in your car. Maybe that’s what people want to listen to, but at least let the little guy be given the chance to be found.

The table below gives a side by side comparison of iTunes 4.9 pocasting and iPodderx

It’s easy to see why iPodderX is the ultimate podcasting client and newsreader. iTunes doesn’t
even come close…

If you’re new to Podcasting, consider looking into iPodderX.

I really do think that Apple has turned a new leaf with the everyday computer user! When I made the “Switch” almost three (3) years ago, I got a lot of “WHY?” questions. Now when I tell people who are avid Windows users, they tend to agree and are also thinking of buying a Mac.

When people are over I always make a point to show them a few things on my Mac. Everyone seems to comment on how clean and smooth the OS looks and runs, After showing them the Widgets and spotlight, you can see that grin grow on their face. Then when I open up my Power Mac G5 and show them how awesome its put together with no wires hanging out, they go nuts! The next question is, “When can we get down to the Apple store?”

When Apple finally converts their processor line over to Intel, I know I’ll have 3 or 4 friends making the switch. As long as they can dual boot to Windows to play their games…(Which is sad, because that is the No. 1 reason I get from people on why they don’t switch.)

My brother is strongly considering buying a Mac after showing how easy it was to create movies and DVDs with Final Cut Express and iDVD. After showing him what I’ve done with these applications, he is now convinced that doing this on the Mac is the only way to go.

My fellow developer friends that program using Open Source tools, who have been on Linux for many years, have also been making the switch to OS X. It does everything they need to do because the OS based on UNIX, but they’ve also have come to realize that the Mac OS X GUI is light years ahead.

The more and more I use my Mac, the less and less I like or “want” to use Windows. My wife has pretty much given up on her Windows machine because of all the spyware, spam and all the weekly patches she has to do on her computer. With all those patches its only made the preformance of her computer go from bad to worse. I said I will reformat it and rebuild it, so that we could at least get it back to where it was when we first bought it. She told me, “BS! Go buy me a Mac Mini. I am sick of Windows and all the problems it has!” So once we ‘re in our new house, I plan on getting her a new Mac and then taking that P4 and turning it into a Linux box. Enough of the headaches!