It was fun this week watching folks get all excited because one person (which grew to "some" by the time the Internet game of telephone got ahold of it) apparently got an early look at what podcasts in Google Play Music might look like. And it's probably pretty close — if you've used Google Play Music at all you should have a pretty good sense of how this'll work. Nothing too surprising there.
It's just really odd that it took Google so long after the death of (the poorly named) Google Listen to remember that podcasts are very much still a thing. And it has nothing to do with the "Serial phenomenon" (popular as the first season was) and everything to do with the shift in how we consume entertainment. That's hardly a new realization, of course. But the trick to a la carte is in discovery. If you don't know what's on the menu, you'll starve. And that's why it's all the more surprising that it took Google — the company that makes its living off organizing data — so long to get this back on its radar.
And podcasts are better than ever. Not just in sound quality, but the content of the quality as well. The fact that a sitting president sat down with a comedian for a rather introspective hourlong conversation — if you haven't heard it, click here!!! — still floors me. (And of all the crazies running right now on both sides, I'd love to hear Jeb Bush — the lone grown-up on that side of things — do an hour like that and just be a semi-regular person, ya know? Jeb: Call me. I've got a show.)
Podcasts are coming back to Google, and soon, from the looks of it. It's going to be real interesting to see if Google Play Music manages to unseat any of the really good podcatchers we already have on Android.
What I'm currently listening to: Nerdist, Star Talk, Ted Radio Hour, Sex With Emily, and and few others that are more sporadic. I actually have to limit the number of shows I'm subscribed to because of Android Auto's six-tap limit — I can't scroll down too far. (It'll be interesting to see how quick you run into that with podcasts in Google Play Music.) But if you've got anything you think I absolutely should listen to, sing out in the comments.
And in any event, be sure to subscribe to our show!
A few other things I think I think:
I'm back on the LG G4 now that it's got Marshmallow. It's so nice to use a phone that actually fits in my pocket. That's my chief issue with the Nexus 6P. Makes me excited for the G5 and the GS7.
I get why folks are wary about Microsoft buying SwiftKey. Maybe they should be. Maybe I'm a little blinded because I know those guys and believe them when they say they're not going anywhere.
Or maybe I'm just an optimist.
I've been enjoying all the pre-announcement SEO jousting for the Galaxy S7. But I've got to say we've not written a single post that I've been unhappy with. I'm fine talking about plausible possibilities (plausibilities?), so long as we're smart about it.
Frankly, I'm also pretty excited about the LG G5, and not just because that gives me an excuse to type LG G5 a few more times.
I don't think I'll be OK with the buttons moving from the back. The fingerprint sensor is a big deal, and it just didn't work on the V10.
I'm enjoying the town halls so much more than the proper debates. They're so much less about sound bytes and so much more about actually trying to give answers.
But you can't make this stuff up.
Good recap of last night here. Goes back to what I was saying about loathing soundbite politics.
The fact checks are still pretty brutal, though.
I want to actually pay for services I use and not get gouged for them. Why is this so hard?
If you haven't already (and what's wrong with you?) it's time to subscribe!
A fun little upcoming addition to the Android Central App — you'll soon be able to invite your friends to use the app. And you should!
OK, I'm running out of things to pimp this week. Go buy one of these shirts. See y'all Monday.