Podcasts. With Vaseline!
I love Apple and iTunes: just listen to some of my previous episodes of 4Geeks. I think the development team does great work. Unfortunately, they are at the top of my candidate list for the Internet Idiot(s) of the Week award. Why?
I produce some podcasts, and would obviously like to publicise them as widely as possible. Although I’ve registered with some online podcast directories, iTunes is till dominant.
So I head on over to the iTunes Music Store, and click on “Publish Podcast”.
But you need an account, so I start creating one.
But you need a credit card, so I reluctantly enter my details.
But you need a British/USA/French/NON-South African credit card.
In my confusion I contact their support crew, and this is the response:
Dear Tom,
I’m sorry to hear that you have been unable to submit a podcast to the iTunes Store.
At this time, customers who reside in South Africa can use the iTunes Music Store to browse music, listen to previews and watch videos. However, purchasing music or submitting podcasts are not yet available in your country.
While I cannot comment on future availability of the iTunes Music Store, please rest assured that we are committed to bringing the iTunes Music Store to music lovers around the world.
For a list of countries where the iTunes Music Store is available, please select “Choose Country” from the bottom of the iTunes Music Store home page.
(emphasis added)
Can someone now please tell me:
- Should South Africans get Vaseline when we get iTunes, or
- Should South Africans get Vaseline when we vote in government elections?
I’m just trying to figure out who is screwing me…
July 27th, 2006 at 0:51 @993
Thought y’all might find this interesting: I’ve emailed Tom Merrit (Buzz Out Loud podcast at bol.cnet.com), and he’s passed this entry on to iTunes. Here’s the response:
Hey Tom,
I just exchanged email with our contatc at iTunes for podcasting. Here’s his response:
His frustration is understandable.
An account is required to submit a podcast, and since there isn’t an iTunes store in South Africa yet, he can’t create an account to submit. It’s a case of the needs of the Store getting in the way of what should be a more open process when it comes to podcasting. For us, it’s important to know who submitted the podcast, as a backup contact person in case the email info in the feed is missing or incorrect–it’s another way to establish a line of contact with the podcast submitter. But it causes frustration in places where there isn’t a store.
It’s not a publicly documented thing, but one easy alternative is for someone to submit them for him. You could submit the feeds and it would be fine. As long as he’s got his contact info in the feed itself, then we’ll be able to get in touch with him if there’s an issue. If you’re not comfortable doing it, you could get the feeds from him, send them to me, and I’ll submit them from my personal account.
September 22nd, 2006 at 8:09 @298
I totally understand your problem. It’s rediculous. Not to mention the fact they need a credit card for no reason.