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May 19, 2006
Textcasting headlines
Slate now offers textcasts sponsored by Lexus.
Podcasting. Videocasting. Textcasting? That last one seems to contradict the whole idea of digital living, doesn’t it? Not if you ask the forces behind Slate's latest idea. As they described it themselves, "We call it a ‘textcast,’ a podcast in which the main thing being delivered to your iPod is text rather than audio.”
Slate introduced Today’s Papers this week for iPod use. As they say on their web site, “Print, meet your cool new friend: the iPod.” The segment is already one of Slate’s most popular features. Today’s Papers highlights some of the bigger headlines from newspapers across the country, providing links on topics provided in the story by Slate. That exact content is now iPod-ready through a free subscription with iTunes.
The daily dose of news isn’t the only thing subscribers will get: Lexus signed on to sponsor the textcasts. Where an album’s artwork might usually show up in both iTunes and iPod, Lexus’ text-only ad will appear instead.
The textcast is the first of its kind for Slate, which already produces podcasts. The textcast is updated every morning through iTunes and is then ready for iPod use. The web site first started experimenting with the idea at the beginning of the year by providing full-text versions of The Explainer with its podcasts. The response from subscribers was very favorable.
Posted by Alicia Dorset at May 19, 2006 04:15 PM
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