Summary: Where Does Microsoft Stand on Podcasting? This week, I'm joined by my good friend, Rob Greenlee. Rob manages the Podcasts Marketplace on Windows Phone/Zune at Microsoft. He and I have a very lively conversation about the state of podcasting on the Windows Platform. During our conversation, we covered a great deal of territory. Here are just a few of the fact that I recall off the top of my head. Please listen to the episode for full details on each of the following. - The Zune desktop software still runs on on Widows 7 and on the "desktop version" of Windows 8. Note: You must leave the "metro interface" and get into the "older style desktop" to run the Zune software. - The Zune desktop software will still sync to Windows Phone 7 and 7.8. However, it will not sync to Windows Phone 8. - Both Windows Phone 7 and 8 have the ability to subscribe to and manage podcast subscriptions directly from the phone. On Windows Phone 7, this is under the brand of Zune Marketplace. On Windows Phone 8, this is under Xbox Music. Note: Podcasting is in not officially tied to Xbox in any way. - There is no direct support of podcasting on Windows Surface Tablet RT. However their are a few third party applications that will allow you to subscribe to and manage podcasts. Ironically, these apps are likely pulling from the Apple Podcasts Directory API and NOT FROM the Zune Podcast Directory that Rob manages. - There is no direct support for podcasting on the Xbox console. - There is no longer a web version of the Zune Podcast Directory. However, the directory does still exist. Those who have the Zune Desktop software and those who have Windows Phone 7 or 8 can browse the podcasts using the methods I listed above. - Rob's email address has been changed from Rob@Zune.net to v-RobGR@Microsoft.com (UPDATE: podcasts@microsoft.com). You can email him your rss feed and he will add your podcast to the directory. You can also reach him via Twitter via @RobGreenlee. I want to personally thank Rob, on behalf of all podcasters, for the efforts that he has made to keep podcasting alive within the Microsoft platforms. I encourage everyone to reach out and thank him personally for his hard work and to encourage him to keep on fighting the good fight. Note: Here's the video that Rob referred to during our conversation. Personal Plug of The Week This week's Personal Plug of the Week is for the Simple Life Together podcast produced by Daniel and Vanessa Hayes. Their podcast is dedicated to helping people lead a simpler life within our busy modern world. In the episode, I mentioned Daniel's blog post about his “World Shedquarters.” I encourage you to check it out. Daniel is an almuni of my Podcasting A to Z course and I'm honored to call him a friend. If you check out their podcast, please tell them that you heard about the from the podcast answer man! I Knew This Day Would Come! I've been in the podcasting space since 2005 and I knew that this day would come. You may have been hearing a lot of buzz about the massive growth of podcasting during 2012. I have personally witnessed the largest growth in podcasting since 2006. Chris Brogan recently launched a new show and blogged about podcasting here: http://www.chrisbrogan.com/podcasting. After posting his thoughts on podcasting, Chris Brogan had many requests for information about how to launch a podcast. I was very honored to read how he answer this here: http://www.chrisbrogan.com/learn-how-to-podcast. Here In 2012, I had the honor of being a part of the launch of Michael Hyatt's "This Is Your Life" podcast which you can find here: http://michaelhyatt.com/thisisyourlife. Also, in 2012, I was delighted to help Michael Stelzner, of Social Media Examiner launch his Social Media Marketing podcast. You can hear him talk about what he calls "the renaissance of podcasting" here: http://gspn.tv/StelznerOnPodcasting.
