
Ask HN: Are you interested in “reading” podcasts? - parisian
I am an avid podcast listener. I do a lot of freelance translation as well (english to french). I was wondering if people found value in reading translated transcription of famous podcasts. If yes, are you willing to pay for it? Thanks.
======
thenomad
Forget translated, I'm just interested in reading transcripts.

I find the podcast culture incredibly frustrating. There's so much great
discussion and information being shared, but in order to absorb it I either
have to multi-task (aka ruin both tasks) or take a truly ridiculous amount of
time per podcast compared with my reading speed.

I get that they're great for people with commutes or people who like running /
walking and listening as a form of exercise, but I don't fit into either of
those camps.

So just a podcast transcription service would be something I'd pay for!

~~~
flippant
I have a similar problem. I can't listen to podcasts while doing anything
important and I don't have a long commute. However, I've found that listening
to news podcasts at an extremely low volume immediately before sleeping to be
useful. This allows me to listen to the podcast if I concentrate, and zone out
and fall asleep if I don't.

------
Jugurtha
Here's something I thought about recently for English speaking people who want
to learn French:

Sharing a screencast of me browsing the French side of the internet. Many
people don't pick up a new language because they think it's difficult, but in
this case they'd be able to connect a written word (since it's a screen-cast)
to a pronunciation. They'd also see how many words are shared and just
pronounced differently, etc. (I'd be explaining what I'm reading).

They'd also see where I go when "I stumble on a word I don't understand", what
I type into Google to get the information, etc.

Think lemonde.fr, latribune.fr, lesechos.fr. Mainly Politics/Economics, but
one can also find "lighter" stuff for people to learn idioms and expressions.

------
brudgers
I think having samples would get more accurate feedback...I don't know enough
about French language podcasts to make an informed guess. I also think
targeting institutions rather than individuals is a better gauge of the
potential market. If there are people who would value such a service, those
people probably cluster.

Good luck.

------
kennyfrc
Not really. It's not exactly a "need" for me -- generally I can get insights
off the podcast just by listening to it.

A close analogy would be a radio show -- no one over teh course of a few
decades has ever paid for a transcribed radio show

------
runjake
I wouldn't find enough value in this to pay.

The podcasts I listen to have "show notes" and many of them are beginning to
post a "table of contents" for each episode, eg "Discussion about $foo, 2:57."

Just my two cents

------
kull
I listen to podcasts besause have no time for reading , not other way around.

------
herbst
I never heard podcasts, i would actually prefer to read them

------
tugberkk
I would not pay, but I would really like some written podcasts, simply because
I can read faster.

