Comparing No-Edit Cloud Based Audio Recording Options

We frequently hear people say “a picture is worth a thousand words,” but pictures can be worth far more to us when they can speak through an associated audio recording. Cloud-based audio recording services like AudioBoo.fm, Cinch.fm and iPadio.com offer students and teachers the ability to quickly create AND share “no edit” audio recordings. These sites create unique “channels” of audio content which can be readily accessed and shared. Depending on the site, audio can be posted to these channels using phones (as “phonecasts,”) using a microphone connected to an Internet-connected computer and a web browser, or with free smartphone applications. As part of my chapter on audio for my forthcoming eBook, “Playing with Media: simple ideas for powerful sharing,” I created the following table to highlight the current differences between AudioBoo, Cinch and iPadio. Note ALL these services are FREE.

I created this graphic using Seashore (a partial Mac port of the open source image editor, The Gimp) and the free version of Skitch. Do you know of other web services that should be included on this list? Please consider “liking” the Facebook page I’ve created for my “Playing with Media” eBook to stay up to date. If all continues to go as planned/hoped, I’ll be publishing it next Wednesday in advance of my ISTE 2011 BYOL workshop, “Simple Ideas for Powerful Sharing.”