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April 16, 2006
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+ H5 h# ^* p8 BPodcast pioneersFledgling company making it easy to use the technology
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% l, {3 I+ I( r9 PBy PATRYCJA CHALUPCZYNSKA, SPECIAL TO THE EDMONTON SUN
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; n2 O% ?& F; v, T: W7 jA couple of 22-year-old university students have figured out how to make podcasting almost as easy as turning on the computer.
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" k7 \. `! S" c0 l5 m: _3 h( kAnd they plan to cash in on their invention - which they say is unique in the computer world.
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Mack Male and Dickson Wong, who are completing their bachelor degrees at the University of Alberta, predict their business, Paramagnus Developments Inc., will bring in $55 million in gross profits by 2010.
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"We want to make it easy. You'll open up the program, click record, and then click publish. If we can make it easy enough for people to do, just like blogging, we think it's going to be really successful," said Male, president and CEO of the company. % B: J; v; X G
1 L1 I1 H0 ]) e9 p"You can think of podcasting as the audiovisual form of blogging."
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Currently, there are more than 60 million bloggers worldwide, says Male, who hopes the same volume of users will gravitate towards Paramagnus Podcasting.
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The duo, who have been self-described computer geeks since Grade 6, created a suite of applications that allows users to create, organize, find and subscribe to podcasts through their website. 9 X8 t# B4 X8 h/ K/ r4 Y
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A podcast is a communication tool that uses a combination of time-shifted audio and video. h1 p9 s( u+ D2 a9 v
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Podcasts can be created, posted to directories and downloaded to your computer or portable device like an IPod.
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The only problem is, it's time consuming and tedious to create them.
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"I started my own podcast and it was hard, and I wanted to make some software to make it easier. It took a lot of time (to create a podcast), it took a lot of effort. For what I wanted to get out of it, I had to put in way too much (time)," said Male. $ o/ j3 G& E6 g- L* d
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The average podcast is 25 minutes in length but takes three to 4.5 hours to make. : F8 Y; J `8 C& m1 a* e
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Paramagnus has figured out how to decrease that creation time down to about the same length of time as the podcast itself.
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& B. i* Y: B5 C8 I% D( k$ O1 P9 Q"We're the first company that offers tools for every part, from the creator to the listener," said Male.
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& F, U! R. i9 Q% }8 j, ^3 }Grandparents can send their family a podcast Christmas card, musicians can get their music out and possibly be discovered, and anyone can create their own amateur radio show.
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The two friends who met in high school, and who made it to the final three in this year's VenturePrize competition, are so confident in their creation that their business plan convinced a bank to lend them money. % r5 {1 I; v8 B
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"They really liked our business plan," said Wong, adding the rest of the initial investment came from family and friends.
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It took $100,000 to get started, and they predict they'll have to spend another $400,000 to iron out kinks and to be able to support users. 1 }( e7 R4 N4 n2 Y) K5 e
6 P/ f: ]7 v, V+ p6 UThey plan to launch their suite of applications and website on May 15 at the Mesh Conference in Toronto. 9 {& G8 M2 [1 W' [; H# h z
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And since they expect their service to become popular fairly quickly, they're already planning to expand. H0 u' Z N3 Q/ Q. C
5 z( J8 X. q4 ?! b# h"We're looking for investment. We want more developers so we can finish this faster, and add more features," said Male, adding they hope to add streaming to their suite so users can preview podcasts before downloading.
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+ }; k4 L, \- n9 J& GParamagnus will be charging a one-time podcast creation fee of $35 US, and a monthly fee for the hosting service - which can range from free to $50 per month - depending on file size and how often a user uploads. % q: `, R/ \# b
! f: O4 N# L# `3 D- b( ]/ tThe applications will only be compatible with Windows operating systems, but Paramagnus plans to import it to other systems in the near future.
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+ @1 j& J# T( Q! e! Q! c* aThe company is currently targeting individual podcast users, but would like to tailor their applications for businesses as well. c, C! S' G6 u: H0 F8 S
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"We think podcasting will be a useful tool for businesses. They can maintain an ongoing relationship with people listening. Instead of just sending out one e-mail and then forgetting about it, every time they put something up it's downloaded automatically," said Male. : ~; G8 n) `6 @6 T
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Public relations tools like press releases could also benefit from podcasting technology. 4 J6 ?) V, C5 T ?0 D- e
" X* z5 `6 l9 ?8 K9 _So what does the pair plan to do once they make their cool millions? ; l8 H, E1 T D r- K# ]3 t
- W0 J1 e2 A: P5 U"It's likely someone will buy us out," said Male. & \& q3 }0 z Q5 @6 {
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Paramagnus got its humble beginnings in 1999, when Male and two other friends developed Speednet, an application that speeds downloads by up to 600%. : i( t9 R) Z! P6 d7 U# l1 f }
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When Male's friends graduated and "got real jobs" in 2004, the company went on hiatus. Male decided to redirect its focus, and keep it going with new partner Wong.
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For more on Paramagnus and its podcasting applications, visit www.paramagnus.com/podcasting. |
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