This American Life is running their annual drive to fund their podcast. They claim to have 400,000 people a week download the free episode and cite the bandwidth cost as a whopping $150,000. Assuming an average episode is 25 MB, that means they burn through 10 terabytes a week. Since there are better solutions, though, I suggested they try using BitTorrent to take some of that load off their servers. I, for one, would happily seed an awesome public radio show, were such a thing available. I was hardly expecting this response, though:
"Thanks for the feedback! Actually, we're always investigating new options for hosting the podcast, and are currently considering peer-to-peer networks such as BitTorrent. We'll keep you updated!"
So... wow. I feel kinda special right now for having provided an intelligent idea. How often is it that you get one of the largest public radio stations in the country, producing one of the most popular public radio shows, to acknowledge an individual listener's idea and look into it? I know I can't possibly have been the only person to suggest that - I'm not nearly that arrogant or delusional - but I definitely am feeling special right now. :)
wow, cool
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