- Tagline : Video Tutorials for Mac and iPod
- Website : ScreenCastsOnline
- Subscribe Link :
- Parental Rating : G
- Star Rating : 9 out of 10
Let me just get this out of the way. If you have an Apple Mac, you need to subscribe to this vidcast straight away. There, that’s done and I can now get on with telling you all about ScreenCastsOnline.
OK, so what’s it all about. Well usually about 10-20 minutes, but all puns aside, each episode covers some facet of the Apple Mac. From using the Apples’ built in tools, to getting the most out of some of the most popular applications. There’s also the odd featured utility and application, that our host Don McAllister thinks might be of interest to his audience. All of this is presented in a 640×360 resolution QuickTime video file, which is great to watch on your PC (yes you don’t need a Mac to watch) or Mac, but maybe a little small to see all the detail on your iPod Video. However this isn’t some dry man in a suit, extolling the virtues of the Mac, this is a hands-on video covering each subject actually on a Mac. In fact you never see the host Don at all, maybe he has a more of a face for podcasting. What you see is the screen of the Mac, as if you were sitting in front of it. Every mouse movement, and key press. This makes it so much easier to take what you learn and put it into practice.
Some of the recent vidcasts, cover things like .Mac accounts, using Garageband, getting the most from iPhoto as well as numerous other subjects.
For me the thing that really holds these vidcast together is our host Don McAllister. Talk about an effortless presentation style. If there is anyone that can take the techy edge off of computers, it’s Don, which is great as it means you don’t have to be a computer nerd, to get the most from this vidcast. Maybe we’ll see him step over to the dark side, but I’m not holding my breath and thankfully I have a Mac, so I can enjoy the vidcast and actually gain something from it.
ScreenCastsOnline was one of the first regularly produced vidcasts that came to my attention and it’s also one of the first to introduce a paid for subscription model. Now don’t fly off the handle, shouting “Sell Out”, the free edition is still available and every bit as good as it always was, but remember this kind of content can be expensive to make and indeed the amount of money required, is a lot more than your common or garden podcast.
So there’s a paid subscription available, what’s that all about and what do you get for your $25? As well as access to the regular format vidcasts, which now include and extra 10 minutes or so of content for paid subscribers, you also get HD (high definition 1280×720, which looks absolutely gorgeous) and ED (enhanced desktop, for computers with slightly less processor power) version for 6 months. During that 6 months, you also get an extra episode each month, that is only available to subscribers. You also get access to all archived shows and a promise that no ads will appear, which do not yet appear in the free version, but may in the future. Last but not least, you also get a DVD of the entire back catalogue, which makes for great value for money.
Conclusion : This is the kind of content, that’s just been waiting for the vidcast scene to explode. Now you can have quality educational content delivered to your computer. Don has taken the leap of faith and now working fulltime at ScreenCastsOnline and we wish him every success for the future, as this is a vidcast that deserves to do well. Fantastic stuff.
I found out about this site, quite by chance. I’d read a blog entry over at John (I get no Spam) Dvorak’s site on learning to kiss passionately, which lead to a video on YouTube. No I don’t need any to tips, but if Dvorak covers it, it has to be worth a look, which indeed it was. Anyway the site behind the video, was one I hadn’t come across before. As soon as I hit the home page, I knew I’d found something special. 
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