The podcasting syndicate formerly known as Fiat Lux1 is now called Constellation.fm. Along with a spiffy new site and some recent additions to the team, Constellation has some neat features you won't find on many other podcast networks:
- Chapter markers, so you don't have to sit through boring sections to get to the good stuff. These work not only on the web but also in chapter-compatible podcast apps.
- Extensive show notes, somewhat like those of the Technical Difficulties podcast. These notes are helpfully divided by their respective chapter markers.
- A more mobile-friendly audio player, with larger tap targets for playing/pausing/scrubbing. The whole site is a joy to use from an iPhone, which is no mean feat.
- Designed to be Huffduffer-friendly from the get-go, unlike the majority of shows powered by Squarespace or Soundcloud these days (a pet peeve of mine).
My buddy Sid O'Neill wrote up a post that explains Constellation.fm's design choices in greater detail and offers some insight into their overall philosophy:
“The closest way to describe Constellation is as a “podcasting syndicate”, but really that’s unsatisfyingly reductive.
[…]
Our endgame is to completely negate the need for a podcatcher. Sure, if you want to use one, Constellation will always support that. […] At the end of the day, we want to eliminate the barrier to entry. Why should it be so difficult for your listeners to listen to your show? It shouldn’t.”
It's good to see a group of people trying to innovate in a medium that is often resistant to both change and user-friendliness. Congratulations to the team at Constellation.fm on the launch, and I look forward to seeing what they've got in store!
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Technically, Fiat Lux still exists as the parent company, and Constellation.fm is merely its new “podcasting arm.” I speculate that Fiat Lux will be dipping its feet into other fields soon. ↩
