Format 1:
This Reality had a request some time ago from cha0tic to put chapter breaks in to the podcast (so he could skip past the music – he said 🙂 ).
I’ve spent some time looking at the technical requirements to enable this and the news is that yes, it does look as though we could put chapter breaks in.
But (you knew there was a ‘but’, didn’t you?) because of technical restrictions of the mp3 format, it seems that chapters can only be inserted in to m4a-formatted audio files, not in to native mp3’s.
This means that only iTunes subscribers would get the chaptered podcast.
Listeners to the native mp3-formatted files – whether they picked them up from the website, the blog or the RSS feed (either here or via a third party aggregator website) – wouldn’t get the chapters.
Also, we’d have to cut two copies – an m4a formatted podcast with its own RSS feed for iTunes subscribers, and an mp3 formatted podcast with its own RSS feed for non-iTunes subscribers.
This needs thinking about – in terms of both feasibility and practicality. So I haven’t forgotten your suggestion cha0tic, it’s something still being mulled over.
Format 2:
We’re going to try an experiment with the format in a ‘soon-ish’ episode.
I’m writing a (very) short story which, if it meets quality standards (and that’s a massive ‘if’, my quality standards change from day-to-day!) will kick off an upcoming episode which, all in all, will be a fish in a very different kind of kettle.
It’ll probably be a one-off, or at most a very occasional variation but, as always, when it does happen, I’d appreciate your feedback.
B.
This is good. Even if chapters doesn’t happen it shows that the content creator (That’d be you Brennig) is listening to their listeners and there is a clear explanation as to why it may or may not happen.