Fuck Apple

I have been asked repeatedly the last two days if I intend to steam the podcast through iTunes.  I'm not a fan of Apple for many reasons, not the least of which includes having to work on a Mackintosh once upon a time (for a five year period).  I've long believed that the best use of a Mackintosh tower, with its handle, would be as a boat anchor.

Podcast platforms are a scam.  It is a means by which a 3rd party gains access to my content, so they can place it on their platform, providing that content to the user.  If the number of minutes I require of the 3rd party's bandwidth reaches a certain point (and a podcast will reach that quickly), I will be asked to PAY the 3rd party for a service that youtube gives me for free.  Meanwhile, for my content, I get nothing from the user.  Nor does the 3rd party provide me with guaranteed views; I may get none.  That, the 3rd party will tell me, is MY fault.

So, why should I pay a 3rd party to do nothing for me, while profiting from me?  Because Apple, or some platform like it, is "prestigious."  They're a brand.  I'm supposed buy into that shit, that someone else's brand will automatically bring me views and attention.  That's how Apple and companies like them work.  They give nothing, they take, then they brand themselves as saints for giving the user "free" podcasts.

I understand the user's motivation, now that I've stumbled into this.  "I can't listen to youtube at work; but I can listen to my iPhone!  Yay.  I can listen to podcasts at work."

So the response to me becomes, "If you are a podcast-maker, you are responsible for making your podcasts available to me, when I need them.  That's just good business."

Yeah.  Apple's business.

The user should realize that it is perfectly easy to rip an mp3 off youtube.  And I don't care if you do. I'm concerned with the material being free. I don't care if you own a copy.  Hell, I'll create a copy and you can download it straight from my drive, if that's what you need.  And it won't cost you ANY bandwidth on your phone, period.

 I'm not concerned with the proliferation of copies; I'm concerned with two things:

1) That you enjoy the podcast and learn something about role-playing from it, that changes your way of thinking;
2) And that you remember who IS the content maker.  Not iTunes.  Not Soundcloud.  Me.

If that inconveniences you a little, because it breaks your hipster need to listen to everything through your precious iTunes, that's just tough.  There are other ways to have this content on your phone at work without my having to suck up to Apple.