I subscribe to the Economist and received an intriguing email yesterday. It looks like the Economist might be getting into podcasting, er, sort of. This comes not long after the magazine decided to implement RSS, though this latest move is a bit more unique. Check it out:
“Dear Reader,
This week, if you will forgive a rare, brief advertisement, I would like to draw your attention to a new version of The Economist—a complete audio edition. Read (rather well) by professional broadcasters, it is available to download from 5pm London time on Fridays. To listen to the whole thing takes around six hours; but listeners can also download shorter snippets. Our hope is that people will listen to it on the move, whether they are commuting to work, cooking, walking the dog or at the gym. Anyway, we believe we are the first magazine to offer a full audio version and we look forward to hearing what people think of it. It is free for subscribers and $8 for everybody else at
www.economist.com/audioedition. “
Interestingly enough, no mention of that near ubiquitous term “podcast.” But this is arguably much different; it’s a weekly read through of an entire magazine. My first inclination is “cool!” but I wonder if I’ll take advantage of it.
Would you listen to a read through of [your favorite] magazines?
I like the idea. I’ve been thinking about resubscribing to the Economist and this seems like a good way to supplement what I can read the old fashioned way.
I don’t think it’s that much different than a podcast. I know I’d think of it and use it the same way I do other podcasts.