THE DOG DAYS of summer are on the wag.
Donna is in flight returning from a trip abroad. And I’m still in the driver’s seat for the blog.
And you know that question we asked?
Oh, okay… sure.
the ask:
WILL YOU SUBSCRIBE to a digital stream (with a monthly fee of no less than five bucks)?
Why five dollars? With 100 subscribers, it’s the minimum cost to professionally produce & distribute an audio podcast with enriched content on a Substack website.
Hmmm…
I’ve been watching the analytics. And I know you — yes, you — have read the ‘ask’ stuff.
While it could be said, the answer is there is no answer, that doesn’t cut bait does it? Nor switch the intent of the poll to find out what’s wot (is it wise to make a podcast in a very crowded neighbourhood with a lot of barking).
With a few more daze left in the quiz, take a moment to comment…
As the great bard and ‘grocer of despair’ Leonard Cohen once put it, ‘it’s closing time…’
BEYOND POLARITY is the consensus opinion of the writers Donna Kennedy-Glans & Don Hill.
Don (and Donna, I guess), I repeat my comment from previously.
I expect that I would subscribe. Why the hesitation? I read a number of blogs and some I also listen to. My problem is that, as is the silly terminology these days, I am “hearing impaired” which means that I can’t hear very damned well at all. My hearing folk tell me that my hearing is declining (well, I told them that first, but they confirmed) and the next word that will be used to describe my hearing is “profound” and I am certain that you can figure out how that adjective would be used.
Continuing on with my whining …. I live with electronics in my ears but they sure as hell aren’t the same as original equipment! I do listen to blogs but I keep having replay various segments because I can’t, well, you know, hear various bits and pieces. What I find is really useful is if the blog also has closed captions then I read and listen and usually I can get it. Usually. But, sufficiently often that it can make a podcast worthwhile. Usually.
I find that the written medium is the best for me but, well, if you are going verbal, I ask for CCs.
Thanks for “listening” to my whining.
Thanks, Ken. And, yes, your prior response was duly noted (typically, audio podcasts come with transcripts these daze, btw). The response to the ‘ask’ — which wasn’t for money, or first born, or dibs on somebody’s will (like I hear from other shills in the not-for-prophet space, especially) — is ummm, underwhelming. And that’s telling, eh.
So — we’ll give it to the end of the month… Stay tuned to this space, meantime.
Ken,
I have very reasonably price hearing aids that stream digital content from my phone to my hearing aids. My wife doesn’t even know it’s happening!
Call or text me at 403.605.6493 for more.
Greg, good suggestion for folks of ‘a certain age’. A somewhat less expensive workaround are Bluetooth earbuds, for instance, Apple AirPods (being on the premium end of the spectrum).
Always include the subscribe link so when us little dogs decide to give up our Friday night popcorn in lieu of a subscription we can commit. Now I’ve got to re-think as there was no button to press.
GG, appreciate you’d want a substack link. That said, the point of our poll is whether or not to _create_ a substack that’s predominantly audio-only podcasts. We should have a decision coming you way before the month is out. At the moment, it’s looking like there’s not enough of enough to make it useful.
Yes I will
Mel, thanks. You’re helping the numbers creep slowly — every so slowly, I should add — toward a ‘critical mass’. Stay tuned to this space…
Yes I probably would subscribe. I have followed my former colleague Donna and appreciate her opinions and perspective. My only hesitation is in how many of I can follow. Takes all day to read everything. Haven’t started with podcasts yet.
Howdy, Dave. Good to see you’re still ‘in the game’. And you’re totally correct to forewarn, and I paraphrase: Keeping above the tsunami of informative posts and whatnot is a task unto inself. The goal of our podcast — audio-only — would to refrain from ‘feeding the goat’ and only post when something’s up that needs ‘splaining, or ‘did you see what we just saw?’, typically, an angle either neglected or not covered by conventional media (let alone legacy). In other words, it’s time well expended…