AudioBoo and you

I said I would get back to AudioBoo and here it is.

There were a lot of AudioBoo enthusiasts at the news:rewired conference in London on January 15 in the general session on social networking. That I hadn't really looked into it previously gave me a kick up the backside that as a lecturer in online journalism I must be far more on-the-ball when it comes to innovation.

So I checked out AudioBoo, which partially funded by Channel 4, which also supplies us with the excellent Jon Snow among many other things and is therefore OK by me.

What a magnificent application - Twitter for audio was how a colleague put it but I would have to say it is far more than that. Another colleague obsessed by radio has taken more interest in the web since hearing of this than in the last 18 months combined.

Basically you record audio through your computer or iPhone and can attach a picture and it uploads to your account almost instantaneously. Your post will also show where you were when this was done.

If you haven't got an iPhone, and I haven't, then you need to use PhoneBoo to upload. This limits you on the picture and GPS front but you can still do the audio.

I regard this as a huge breakthrough. It is so easy to use from both sides (ie as a 'broadcaster' and as a 'listener'). It has the appeal of Twitter with the added colour that audio and a picture can bring.

Some of the Boos from the G20 already show the appeal of this and I am sure it will have great value on less heavyweight arenas such as Glastonbury, travel etc etc. It is also very easy to embed audio into a site in the manner of YouTube, get an RSS feed and add tags.

I am all for anything which makes the tools of mass media available to everyone - Viva La Revolution.

The only thing now is that it has made me want to 'cheat' on my Nokia n95 for a iPhone and then I'll miss my Carl Zeiss lens and the MoJo appeal.