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8 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | JANUARY 2017 By Steve Benoff Despite my saying this column will focus on apps that don't come with your smartphone, I want to concentrate on a particular app that should come with all phones. Podcasts. A podcast is "a digital file made available on the Internet for downloading to a computer or portable media player, typically available as a series, new installments of which can be received by subscribers automatically." Like many of you, in my life before moving to Four Seasons at Beaumont, I listened to talk radio on AM and to music on FM radio. In addition, I plugged my headphones into my phone and listened to music on my iTunes app. It's music I purchased. But there are many free and monthly-fee apps for music – Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music, etc. Podcasts are a lot like AM radio. Chatter, chatter, chatter, some of it boring, some of it fascinating. But compared to radio, it's limitless. When I lived in LA, I listened to a lot of local sports talk radio in my car. In Beaumont, I spend a lot less time in my car and the radio reception isn't very good. But I found that most of the shows I listened to were available as podcasts. There's a search feature in the podcasts app. I enter the name of the show I want and it appears. I can search through recent shows and download them to my podcasts app individually. Or I can install the show and receive new "broadcasts" as they're released. For example, just enter the name Bill in the search bar. Up comes Bill O'Reilly, Bill Handel, Bill Simmons, and several other Bills. So if you miss Bill Handel's radio show, you're in luck. Just install his podcast and make sure you're subscribed; you'll never miss a show again. Even better, you won't have to tune into KFI at 6 am. You can listen any time you want. Furthermore, there's a button on the podcast screen that lets you jump forward and back by 15-second increments. Or you can put your finger on the timeline indicator and slide to any position in the show. You may have noticed that I put quotes around the word broadcasts. The word applies perfectly for radio shows. But many, perhaps most, podcasts are broadcast not over the airwaves but on the Internet. These are shows that aren't available on the radio. For example, if you are an electronics junkie like me, there are lots of podcasts to satisfy your craving. Leo Laporte produces 23 different podcasts. One is his radio show (The Tech Guy); the others are produced for Internet distribution (Home Theater Geeks, Security Now, All About Android, Android App Arena, MacBreak Weekly, and many others). Why would someone create a show for the Internet? Leo Laporte's shows contain advertising. Some shows don't have ads but direct you to websites that do. There's a weekly investment show that I love — The Disciplined Investor. The host, Andrew Horowitz, has a weekly hour show wherein he gives his investment views and an interview with a knowledgeable guest. I guess he hopes that some of his listeners will seek out his investment company. But you wouldn't know it from his podcasts. I think he just likes dispensing knowledge. There's another investment show I like, Wall Street Unplugged with Frank Curzio. Like Horowitz, he gives his investment views and also has an interview. But he is constantly hawking his newsletter. Another money show is produced occasionally — Investment Outlook with Bill Gross. He sells nothing. But his short show ends with about five minutes of warning not to rely on his opinion. The point is to find a subject you're interested in and explore the associated podcasts. Do you like quilting? Enter that word in the search bar and you'll find a dozen quilting shows. Cooking? Another dozen. Classical music? Another dozen. Weightlifting? Believe it or not, another dozen. Like apps, it's easy to subscribe to podcasts, and it's just as easy to unsubscribe. I encourage you to explore the limitless world of podcasts. If you use an app you'd like to share with others, let me know at steve.benoff@verizon.net. There's An App For That

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