What is the Recipe for Success?

For as long as Dino's have had ipods and have been listening to the GGP/AGP I've been the one naggin and bitching about the length of the show, But sometimes I find myself surprised that i'm suddenly at the end of the show .. Hmm .. done already ? I ask myself.. then i look at the timer and over 90 minutes have passed. Yet at other times I go like : Come on guyz , we are dragging our feet through the content here. I tried thinking about the issue of show length and what is the perfect length for the show. But I figured out its not about the number of minutes , its about the content. Some shows with a lot of heavy tech content might seem tedious and heavy , yet other LONGER episodes of the AGP, filled with banter and laughs seem to make time fly. So its not about the minutes.. its about the content. If its about personalities and laughs and about the community (and about The Herne and Me) shows can go on forever.. Cause its the soul of the hosts that gives time the wings to fly

I reckon you'd get complaints if you shortened it. Sometimes I listen all at once, but mostly I listen over a few days which is great. I agree with KW that it's about the content, but also the delivery of it - the three hosts are obviously interested in the conversation and it flows naturally. There's no sense that you're either trying to drag it out to fill up time, or having to skip over things as you don't have time. That's the beauty of a podcast I guess as you're not limited to an exact 30 or 60 minutes.

That said I'd rather more chat and sidetracking rather than news... so 2 sites rather than 5 if you don't have time to do 5 justice. There's always next week, or the blog/forum.

Speaking of which the blog is great. At first I was a bit sceptical when you moved over from TPN, but it's been hugely successful in my opinion - much more dynamic than I was expecting.

It is very well put together and polished, but it's not over-polished if that makes sense. You talk because you have something to talk about, rather than because you like the sound of your own voices, and you're striving to give something interesting and useful to your listeners rather than simply self-aggrandisement. Some podcasts sound too pleased with themselves which is a real turn-off.

I also like that you change your minds over time and are willing to give things a second chance - Dave coming around to Vista for example. You're not blind fanboys/girls for particular products and cover a good range of tech without being too techie.

Congrats guys, keep up the good work!

And of course it's all about the Herne and KW :)

@dave , indeed : I mean I dont care about stocks , user stats or hostile takeovers of some website .. And then again, every topic can turn into a burst of laughter as Cait goes of on a swearing tangent about it. She has the sweetest way to say F*** you !

I started listening to the GGP late last year and immediately was hooked. What I really like is the variety of topics and the fact that it doesn’t get bogged down in one thing. Having it broken into the various segments seems to work well also. Some podcasts with can get caught up going over and over the same thing to the point that you want scream at them.

It’s not overly techy and has lots of info for the average computer/internet user.

You also engage with your listeners, and providing the forum has been a positive move - all adds to the experience.

On the issue of the length of the podcast – I don’t have a problem with it, since I have an almost 2 hour commute every day.

On an aside, I am getting a bit worried by the fact that when I read KnightWise’s comment above, I could actually hear his voice with all the little nuances thrown in (except I didn’t hear the Harley).

Keep up the good work.

Matt

Show notes and audio quality.

I've unsubscribed to a lot of shows b/c they dont have notes.

Oh, and most shows have terrible nails on a chalk board bumpers.

Audio quality is actually a big one now I think about it, and you guys get it right. I listen to a certain Cameron Reilley's podcast sometimes and it really gives me the shits when he plays music in the background... just loud enough for you to know it's there, but yet not loud enough for you to hear it properly. He hasn't done it so much recently which is good... and anyway, we shouldn't be beating up TPN I'm sure! ;)

Dave, the bumpers are fine. Whatever you do dont get FM radio shockjock bumpers like 90% of other podcasts. It drives me nuts. Some brilliant shows like SMStextnews had the worse bumpers ever. They changed to video now so it's not really an issue anyore.

Speaking of brilliant. Ryan Block and Peter are back on a new show. Engadget was probably the first show I ever heard but twit.tv and AAS followed soon thereafter.

Anyway. Please dont start screaming or anything.

I will come to Australia put kanetoads in your gastank and install freebsd on all of your PCs.

hahaha

@ Herne - ah, I hadn't thought of that... Music is better than hiss!

@matt88 " On an aside, I am getting a bit worried by the fact that when I read KnightWise’s comment above, I could actually hear his voice with all the little nuances thrown in (except I didn’t hear the Harley)." ... Now I don't know if i should be flattered or scared.

@eric51 : thanx for the comment on the bumpers :) I composed them.. But if people are tired of them I surely wanna make new ones.

I like the banter between everyone and some of the funniest stuff can be when you drift off topic.
I have 8 hours a day at work to listen to podcasts so im subscribed to about 40 of them which usually fills in the time,so im not too concerned with the length of shows i enjoy listening too.A voluntary subscription of a few dollars a month for extra content or something is better than ruining the podcast with ads.Just my two cents :).