Listening to Blogs- Really Listening

April 4, 2008 · Comments

pimpmynews My first and second look at PimpMyNews put my thoughts in the category of “interesting, but not my bag.” But then, I started to get it. What’s neat about PimpMyNews is that you can cook off a bunch of MP3 files of blogs you like reading, dump them into your MP3 player (portable or on your desk), and listen to a bunch of blogs while doing stuff.

They’re adding feeds all the time (and honestly, I want the navigation to change a lot, because flicking around alphabetical lists isn’t really useful to me, but hey, gotta start somewhere), so there’s a likelihood that you’ll find something to like there. But even that made me pause. Some blogs are great to read, but would they “listen” well?

I listened to my own blog post (natch), and found it actually reasonably listenable.

So it’s neat, and you might give it a try. I think there are some ways to use it that you’ll find useful. In future versions, I want different organizational structures (like Best Of, etc, etc), and an easier nav method. But John and team have done a good start.

What do you think? Ready to start downloading audible versions of your favorite blogs?

I use Plasq’s Skitch to do screenshots.

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  • very cool - it's the next progression from books on tape? Only question: How well does it translate sarcasm?
  • You're right on 2 counts:
    1) It's not bad -- not great, but not bad
    2) The navigation is very clunky

    Were No. 2 not such an issue, I might have created a podcast feed for myself. I wasn't able to sort out how to grab new feeds (like yours) after finding them in a search, and that's something that really needs to be a snap.
  • I think it's very cool, but for some reason I just like readin the blogs. *=) Perhaps it reminds me of watching tv, maybe I feel guilty because of laziness. lol
  • I appreciate the introduction to this technology. After 20 seconds I was more aware of the strange delivery of the automated voice than the content. I'll keep listening and see if I can get stop listening to the less than fluid delivery of what's been written in text.

    It's time for this to take off for bloggers that want to offer variety....I just don't think the technology has provided superior quality assurance so I can actually focus on the message not the media.

    Thanks
    Jerry
  • Chris,

    Thanks for checking out PimpMyNews. Great suggestions! We act on user feedback fast. Since we launched(3 months ago), we've added many new user-suggested features and blogs, and we're looking forward to your community's feedback.

    Bryan,
    If you click the "Sign Up" link, a wizard will guide you through selecting blogs to add to your PimpMyNews playlist (and to your podcast, if you want one). It's free and only takes a few minutes.

    Terra,
    A lot of our users use it on the go on iPhones & iPods.. to catch up on their blogs while driving, working out, doing laundry, etc. Try it on the go and you might feel 2x productive;)

    Everyone: Please send your feedback to Suggestions@PimpMyNews.com (we consider every single idea).

    We also have a couple spots left on our advisory board.

    Thanks,
    John Atkinson
    Co-Founder, PimpMyNews
    Full Site: www.PimpMyNews.com
    iPhone Site: www.PimpMyNews.com/m
  • John, thanks for your follow-up comment. Actually, I *did* click the "Sign Up" link when I started, and I added a few blogs. But then when I was back on the main page, I couldn't find a way to easily add more blogs to my playlist. Do I only get one crack it?
  • Bryan, sorry I misunderstood. Thanks for signing up. You can add & remove feeds as many times as you'd like.

    To do this: log in, go to your "My Account" page and click the "MyFeeds" link on the left (under "MyPlaylist"). You can also configure your podcast by clicking the "MyPodcast" link.
  • Wow - thanks for showing me this... it's neat, if a little odd. I can think of a few practical applications for this I guess - it'd be similar to podcastifying a traditional blog. I noticed a few mispronounciations that I didn't bother to report to them, but probably should have (on the coding horror blog, it kept calling mousepad a mouse-ay-pad, which sounded pretty funny).
  • Very cool... already thinking of how we could use this for our company!
  • I actually do a *mean* impression of the Pimp My News voice. Started doing it once and couldn't switch back.

    I'm thinking this would be a great tool for people with disabilities, might have even read that they were doing something like that already. I wonder if this is better than the standard readers that are used now.

    John and his team are incredibly responsive. I setup PRX Releases so that my news releases can be read through Pimp My News. Great experience. These guys really care about pleasing their customers.
  • I'm a big fan of PMN (though not sure if that's an acceptable acronym for it) - very much like the ability to create my own custom podcast. Find that a good way to catch up at the end of a day or two where I haven't managed to read all the feeds I like to ...
  • Jerry,
    Re: being able to "focus on the message vs. media." In our testing groups, we found "The Foreign Exchange Student" effect applies for some users(me included). For some, there's an initial "learning curve" for the ear - after a few listens, nearly all users found they were able focus well on the content.(i.e. the "accent" just about goes way).

    Mike,
    Love the term "Podcastifying"..That's basically what PMN does - With no effort on the blogger's part, it converts their posts to "portable audio", so they can be consumed anytime or anywhere(kind of like TiVo for news & blogs). Thanks for "mouse-ay-pad" - fixed for future posts.
  • John- at any point does the name "PimpMyNews" make you wonder what opportunities you've perhaps cut off? Or do you have a black label version called something like "ImportantAudioProductForBigMedia.com" ?

    : )
  • Podcastifying is a great term. Sounds like it should be mouthed by Frank Caliendo as Bush in those adverts for his show.

    @chrisbrogan - that last questions is hilarious. Like that a lot. How 'bout 'ImportantAudioProductForBigMediaHo's' ???
  • Chris,
    LOL.. Yeah, the name may not go over well in a boardroom pitch to The Wall Street Journal. (although Pimp My Ride has some mega-brand sponsors, Coke, Frito-Lay, etc ;)

    On a more serious note, the "newer" definition of the word "Pimp" is the one we identify with...the positive one, meaning "to personalize or improve" something (like in the MTV show "Pimp My Ride", vs. "Huggy Bear from Starsky & Hutch")

    Our app let's you personalize your news, listen to it and share it - hence the name "PimpMyNews". We also don't take life too seriously, so there's definitely a tongue-in-check aspect to our branding. Some love it.. others, not so much.

    *That said, we'd love ChrisBrogan.com readers' opinions.

    Turbo Poll: Which best describes your feeling of the name?

    A) I like it/it doesn't bother me!
    B) I'd be embarrassed to recommend a product named "PimpMyNews"

    Great discussion! -John
  • Gurukarm Khalsa
    This is a very interesting development, and great as an accessibility tool (as mentioned by Shannon). But I too have a bit of a problem getting past the automated voice. I'd rather be listening to the content than be distracted by the very slight hitches in the voice. I'll keep watching (listening?? :-) ) though!
  • I just blogged about Chris' PimpMyNews post on The PimpMyNews blog.

    >Here's the text version: http://pimpmynews.blogspot.com/

    >Here's the PimpMyNews audio version: http://tinyurl.com/6my2hg

    Please keep the discussion going by posting on Chris' blog here.

    Thanks,
    John
    PimpMyNews Co-Founder
  • I'm so glad you blogged about this site, Chris - thanks for the heads up!

    John - As far as the name goes, we have, in fact, adopted a 'newer' meaning of the term 'pimp'. And I have accepted it and haven't even cringed (too much) when hearing my kids use it, referring to TV shows or myspace themes, etc.

    There was one lady that gave me pause, though, and she is an ex-hooker on MySpace. And so I am on the fence again, about the term. Read some of her stuff and you can get a feel for where she's coming from, as well. I'm sorry, though, I don't remember exactly where it was that she made me wonder if I should not use the word anymore. Here is the url to her myspace profile: http://www.myspace.com/annielobert

    I love your site, though, John - it's a great idea! :)
  • Kfir Pravda
    Hey, strangely enough you are listening to my post there, with a strange picture of mine... can you please send me the link for this one?
  • Tommy Lee Jones
    Chris, the hard work is done by the folks over at NeoSpeech. I tried them out a couple of years ago. But listening just wasn't for me.

    Just try out the NeoSpeech demo here. PMN is using the 'Paul' voice.

    http://neospeech.com/
  • Tommy Lee,
    You're partially correct. "Paul" is the voice we use, however the "hard work" was done by our development team who spent 7 months working day and night to build our homegrown Web 2.0 news engine.

    PimpMyNews is a mashup of our own technology, and RSS, Blogging, Newsreader, Text-to-Speech, Podcasting and Social News technology. We can "plug in" any voice.

    If you'll reveal your real name and email address, I'd gladly tell you more (even if you're with a company that sees us as a competitor).

    If you're really "Tommy Lee Jones," I loved "No Country for Old Men," but wished you'd wrapped up the ending a little better.

    John
  • Kfir,

    Here's a link to Chris' post that has your pic: http://pimpmynews.com/p.aspx?i=631318

    You can listen to all of Chris' posts (and yours) by going to "Technology>Social Media" on our Categories page here:

    http://www.PimpMyNews.com/Categories.aspx
    (we added your blog after seeing your comment ;)

    To create a personalized account to track & voice-enable your favorite blogs, just fill out the sign up form here:
    http://pimpmynews.com/signup.aspx

    Thanks,
    John

    *If others would like to add their blogs, just email Feeds@PimpMyNews.com
  • @Tommy Lee Jones

    What was your point? I write programs using .NET. Are you going to negate all of my hard work and credit it to Microsoft? To be anonymous and insulting for absolutely no reason is so novel.
  • Funny thing is, Chris, I just filled out the Forrester blog survey and of my recommendations was that I would really prefer to receive Jeremiah's blog as a podcast. I do wish I could speed up the read back tho... It's a bit slow to for my brain to stay fully engaged.
  • Hi Drew,

    Glad you found PimpMyNews helpful in converting Jeriamiah's blog to a podcast. For me, the fact that it turns any blog into "portable audio" that you can listen to anywhere on an iPhone, iPod or any MP3 player is the most powerful benefit. I listen to all my blogs in the car every morning (or at the gym, when I muster up the willpower to go ;).

    About the "speed of the read back", we're considering adding features to let users control the speed, change voices and other options.

    Thanks for the feedback.
  • Hey John

    The name is catchy but its usually the content I go for anyway.

    That said unless your web presence is broadcast by someone like Chris that I read and like I probably would not go to a site that somehow doesn't sound like they take their business serious.

    Contrast that with "Chris Brogan- Community and Social Media" you might see where I am coming from with this comment.

    Anyway I will be visiting your site now that I know the benefits so best of luck!
  • Hi Scott - about the content... with PimpMyNews, you can access over 1,200 of the web's most popular news & blogs from 59 categories.

    Don't let the name fool you... We take our business *very* seriously -and would love to hear your feedback after you try it out. (suggestions@PimpMyNews.com )
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