How do you get your information and entertainment

The boat based business thread has spawned some very interesting ideas. Amongst them is Podcasting. This has possibilities. Others have mentioned cruising magazines. On a small scale, this could be a possibility.
How do you get your info and entertainment? Books and magazines? Audio visual such as TV and Radio? High tech, such as Ipod, or internet?
What medium would you pay to see, and what content would you pay for?

[CaptainK]

I went ahead and put my vote, on this poll.

So far the results are surprising. Roiters (spelling?) reported about a year ago that printed news was dying and people were, in ever increasing numbers, getting their news from the internet. I guess cruisers are more traditional. Or is it a matter of convenience? Fascinating!

[CaptainK]

Yeah Kai.

I read most of the news on the internet nowdays. Something like this for me.

TV news: 30%
Internet News:70%

About reading materials. Books & magazines, that I go through.

Internet:80%
Books & magazines:20%

[CaptainK]

Kai.

You mean "Reuters!!" Right?

[s/v 'Faith']

All the entertainment I require comes from two sources; The news and my dog.

[CaptainK]

I hear that Faith!

Finally, a trustworthy news source If ya can't trust your dog, who can ya trust?

This poll was inspired by the idea of Podcasting noted in another thread. Based on the response, limited though it is, it appears that a newsletter would have a better success within the cruising community than any sort of hitech business endeavor.
So far, text publication is the winner. With the increased availability of technology this is a bit surprising to me.

[Pura Vida]

I've given up on commecial news. Years ago I looked into the news as part of a study for a sociology class and learned a bit about how it works. Needless to say the reality of broadcast/print news does not reflect bias most bumper stickers credit it with. There are a significant number of peer reviewed studies on this subject so please don't believe me just head on down to the local library and do some digging. But the bottom line is viewers = revenue and the goal of most business is _________?

Sorry about the soap box there...
Routes to work, weather, local happenings, international happenings all come from internet sources.
Entertainment is almost always books, perodicals (I just love American Scientist and GOB) and Dat Ta Da my Podcasts.

It's your soap box as much as mine I agree that there is a financial motivation for most if not all media, but the deciding factor for me is not how rich I make them by listening, watching or reading, but how much I get out of the material for the time it takes to enjoy it. I would definitely agree that printed media is the most rewarding, but does it provide the most reward for the time it takes to absorb the information. You can obtain allot of pleasure by listening to a 5 minute song on the radio. A 10 minute comedy routine on the TV can stay with you for a long time. Electronic media can provide far more up to the minute news than printed media, but then, if you are cruising, how important is it to know within minutes if O.J. was guilty or not?

[Dunkers]

When away cruising I listen to the BBC World Service on a very regular basis. It keeps me in touch with what's happening at home and the world coverage is excellent too. I enjoy a play and get hooked on which ever book they have adopted and broadcast in serial form. When single-handing the Atlantic I found the familiarity of the voices very reassuring and by the time I reached land again I was up to date on world events.

At home here in Britain I buy a broadsheet newspaper, the Daily Telegraph every day as I find that it gives more in depth coverage than the TV news. As I work away from home Monday to Friday I save the papers up and over the weekend my wife and I attack the cryptic crosswords, with varying success. If we go to the boat we take the papers with us and after I have made the first morning cup of tea we will sit up in our bunk and spend a very pleasant hour trying to get into the very weird minds of the crossword compilers. At home the routine is much the same but with the addition of two loonie kittens attacking the paper while we try to shoo them away!

As for entertainment on the boat some music from either a tape or CD and a good book is great. When on passage just sitting in the cockpit and watching the changing face of the sea and sky can eat up many pleasant hours. We can, of course, watch a DVD movie on the laptop if we want to but as yet haven't been tempted to. However, as a standby in harbour on a wet windy night it remains a pleasant option along with a glass of wine and some nibbles. Wish I was there now!!

[exranger]

I think the problem with getting your news high tech is the inability to...get your news high tech! When internet connectivity is really easy and reliable out on the water and anchored in some hole, then that the weight will shift overwhelmingly to it.

I love books and magazines, though the ability to get the LATEST news on the internet can't be beat!

mike

[Starbuck]

Although the equipment required to begin podcasting is pretty minimal, there are couple of problems with podcasting: you must have a steady stream of worthwhile material to record, and most podcasts are done on an amateur level as hobbies that don't generate any cash.

And of course, with the state of the 'net today, you may not be able to upload your weekly 'cast on a regular schedule, until you hit port.

I'd listen to someone's 15min. intsallments from exotic places, if I happened to find them, but I wouldn't pay to download them.

Don't want to start flames, but the BBC, which used to be the gold standard for getting "news from home," has a strong liberal bias to its reporting which must be taken with a large grain of salt (a simple keyword search will give you many hits). I think better to receive several sources of news (tricky sometimes).

[cat man do]

We have'nt figured out what to use for comms and media on our current build yet, so will be following this with interest.

On our last cat all we had was a 12 stack CD player and a big box full of books, I 'spose we're easily entertained. On the newie I would like a bit more. Sort of grown attached to my 'putter with its 2000 songs at the push of a button.

Interestingly it was 2 months before we heard about September 11 fom another yachtie who showed us a Time magazine, and we were only cruising the Queensland coast.

We do have our secret spot's to get away from the rest of the world. There obviously good one's.

Dave