I listen to podcasts on the way to and from work in the car. I watch video podcasts on my PC in my lunch break. I listen to tech shows on the lawnmower and I even fall asleep listening to them at night.
Never before has there been such a variety of shows, or quality of production. If you aren’t subscribed to some tech shows you are certainly missing out. So after years of listening and much deliberating here’s our top 10 technology podcasts recommendations
10. SmartPhones Show
Format: Video / Typical Length: 10 mins
Even with a bit of a bias towards Symbian powered devices, the SmartPhones Show is great to watch. Filmed (using a smartphone) in his bedroom, kitchen or even his car, Steve Litchfield produces these short fortnightly home videos which are packed with no-nonsense reviews of the latest Smartphone hardware. Guest reviewers have joined Steve in recent episodes too bringing some new coverage of the iPhone and Blackberry devices creating an all round un-missable show.
9. Diggnation
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Format: Audio & Video / Typical Length: 1 hour
Two guys on a sofa, laptops on their knees, beer in their hands and some sharp wit as they talk through the weeks most dug stories on Digg.com. Internet entrepreneur and all round internet nice guy Kevin Rose is joined by hilarious side-kick Alex Albrecht and the results, while sometimes juvenile, are very entertaining. It’s the only podcast in our top 10 with the “explicit” tag on iTunes (for adult language) it is never-the-less worth checking out if you’re in need of some light hearted tech related relief.
8. Tekzilla
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Format: Video / Typical Length: 1 hour
TechTV veteran Patrick Norton has been joined by Veronica Belmont (of Mahalo Daily fame) to host the Tekzilla podcast. One of the titles from the Revision3 stable, an internet video company with Digg’s Kevin Rose at the helm. Tekzilla is a mixture of longer shows and short Daily episodes (both video). With an entertaining style reminiscent of the old TechTV days there’s good practical advice in reply to viewers questions coupled with news and reviews from the world of tech.
7. The Media Center Show
Format: Audio / Typical Length: 1 hour
Ian Dixon has been producing his Media Center show for nearly three years and has a tremendous back catalogue of over 160 shows on all sorts of topics encompassing the “Digital Lifestyle”. Ian’s dedication to the Windows Media Center platform in particular has earned him recognition from Microsoft in the form of MVP status (Most Valuable Professional). He also releases video content like his interviews from the Consumer Electronics show. We recently interviewed Ian Dixon on our own podcast (Show AH0012).
6. Leo Laporte The Tech Guy
Format: Audio / Typical Length: 2 hours
This is the only show in our top ten list that’s “old” media. A radio show that’s syndicated across the USA, Leo Laporte takes live calls from listeners looking for help with their tech. Perhaps a more elementary level show due to the nature of the calls, it is never the less an entertaining listen and Leo’s style can make even the most mundane of problems seem interesting. This is the longest show in this list too at around 2 hours it’s ideal for a long car journey.
5. Windows Weekly
Format: Audio / Typical Length: 45 mins
Paul Thurrott joins Leo Laporte for a weekly chat on Windows. Paul tells it like it is and his obvious passion for the OS doesn’t automatically mean he’s a Microsoft fan-boy. Regularly the chat turns to Mac too and in recent shows he’s revealed his laptop of choice is a MacBook, his mobile is an iPhone and he’s a .Mac subscriber too. His regular trips to Richmond Redmond provide a good insight into what’s coming from the mighty MS. He’s a fan of Windows Media Center and Windows Home Server and his pick of the week always brings an interesting new app or service that’s worth checking out.
4. ScreenCasts Online
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Format: Video / Typical Length: 25 mins
Don McAlister is fast becoming the internet poster boy for “podcast monetization”. He bravely left a good job in IT a couple of years ago to persue his podcasting dream. But the gamble paid off and he now earns his living by producing a top quality weekly HiDef Mac tutorial podcast. The variety of topics covered is immense and whether you are a switcher or a Mac veteran there’s lots here for you to get stuck into. 1 in 4 shows are free so you can get a taste of the quality and they are published in a variety of formats from 720p HD to iPod. You get instant access to the entire archive of over 150 shows once you join and there’s never been a better time to sign up either as Don has just released a 15% Discount Offer that’s good until the end of this month which gives you membership for the next six-months for just $41/£20 when you join you (6 monthly membership renewals are just $25/£12).
3. MacBreak Weekly
Format: Audio / Typical Length: 90 mins
Unlike the Windows Weekly podcast, the panel on MacBreak Weekly are less incllinded to cut the “opposing” OS any slack. But if you’re able to form your own opinion then it’s definately worth listening. The advange the show has over the Windows version is the size of the panel and the variety of personalities. It’s chaired by Leo Laporte and characters like Andy Ihnatko, who is hilarious (in small doses), Scott Bourne and the intelligently funny Merlin Mann combine to create a marvelous podcast where you’ll be laughing while you’re learning.
2. GeekBriefTV
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Format: Video / Typical Length: 5 mins
With Cali Lewis in front of the camera and Neal Campbell behind it, this husband and wife team work full time to produce one of our very favourite internet shows. Short pacey videos on all the latest that’s hot in the world of tech in around 4 episodes each week. The guys are currently well into the detailed stages of their ambitious plan to take their show on the road. They are buying a nifty bus and will drive around 35,000 miles in the next year visiting all 50 US states plus Canada. You can follow their progress at BigTrip.tv and we encourage you to support them at PaidByPixels.com as they head out on their adventure.
1. TWiT
Format: Audio / Typical Length: 90 mins
It’s often said that content is king. Whether its a website or a podcast that is of course true, but there’s another factor that’s often left out – presentation. I have listened to some shows over the last couple of years where the content is interesting to me, but the presenter is so bad that I haven’t been able to stay with it for more than a few minutes. So to keep my interest I need a great presenter, as well as great content. For me, the master of the tech presenter genre is Leo Laporte. With his catalogue of titles on the twit.tv network and his new venture in live internet video broadcasting at twitlive.tv Leo is a tech podcasting god!
So the combination of great content plus the best presenter in the business gives us This Week in Tech. It’s the premier podcast on the TWiT network and makes for a fantastic show, the weeks Tech news is brought to life in entertaining way by the panel of Internet personalities. Regulars include Patrick Norton, the marvelously cantankerous John C. Dvorak, the brash Jason Calacanis and the English public school boy tones of Wil Harris.
Honorable Mentions
Of course there are hundreds, if not thousands of Tech podcasts on the web and this is our top 10. Here’s a shout out to some of our other favourites that didn’t quite make it into the list…
- Well, we’re new to this podcasting lark but we’ve gotta mention our own little Automated Home show 🙂
- We’ve been watching another Revision3 property – Systm for quite a few years now. Another highly recommended show.
- Victor Cajiao produces the TypcalMac User podcast. An interesting audio and video feed thats defintely worth checking out.
- Mahalo Daily isn’t strictly a tech podcast as it covers an incredible variety of topics, this short daily video show is a growning phenomenon that we watch most days.
Launching our own podcast over the last couple of months has given us renewed respect for internet broadcaster. The guys that put these shows togehter have our utter repect. We hope you found this list usedful. Agree? Disagree? Why not add your recommendations to the comments below…
Great list guys. I already listen to almost half of the list. But what about Buzz Out Loud. Everybody needs a Molly rant to balance out Dvorak’s crankiness on TWiT.
Thanks so much for including GeekBrief.TV on the list! I’m honored to be among of such a great group of shows!
Windows Weekly
Uh, Paul goes to REDmond, King County, Washington
(my older sis works for Microsoft)
Ooops, thanks Michael – fixed now 🙂
M.
Great list – what about a good tool for downloading your podcasts automatically? I don’t use iTunes, so what’s a good alternative?
Try using Miro http://www.miro.com I’m not an itunes person like yourself…
Nigel
Miro is a good suggestion – its http://www.getmiro.com/ btw, also have a look at http://juicereceiver.sourceforge.net/ for another free mac / windows podcast catcher.
M.
Guess we must have been number 11 then 🙁
Carl @ the FrequencyCast TV and Tech podcast
How about commandN … once a week, various formats, from Canada … we get it via iTunes … ??
Great article.