Media can be both wave and particle

If Long Tail has taught us nothing else, it has taught us that just because you can compare something doesn't make that comparison particularly meaningful. That said, I'm not sure that you can actually compare podcasts to text based blogging on a particularly meaningful basis. They are two very different mediums that would appeal to people for very individual reasons. As a blog lover I choose text blogs for some things and podcasts for others. When I am in my car or at the gym I'm listening to podcasts because they are portable and the perfect accompaniment to my incessant multitasking. When I am home and can concentrate on one thing at a time I am visiting text based blogs because I can focus a little more on the content, although I am often bouncing back and forth between work and blog.

Some people prefer to get their information aurally (not orally, but imagine if you could get your info that way...) some prefer reading and/or visually absorbing their info. Some subjects are better suited to a particular medium. A political debate blog, for instance, that might be a snooze in a text-based format, becomes someting dynamic and compelling in podcast form.

With all of the plug ins and widgets available for blogs, your text-based blog can become both text-based and podcast at the same time. The best podcasts, in my opinion, are ones that incorporate some kind of text-based blog as part of their package. That way, if you don't catch something you can hit the blog and see what you missed. Double the fun, double the learning.

Instead of a head to head comparison, just ask yourself these questions to determine which medium suits best:

• Medium preference--are you in a listening mood or a seeing mood?
• Subject matter--is it something that can be easily absorbed in podcast form or is it so complex that you will need to track back and reinforce what you just learned by re-reading?
• Portability--where are you? what are you doing?
• Concentration/distraction level--how much energy can you devote to the medium? How much are you bothered by distraction?