Asked in isolation if the audio quality of any recording is important my answer 
is a unequivocal "Yes". Asked in isolation if coherent and eloquent speech is 
important my answer, again, is "Yes".

Despite this I feel there are circumstances where the message is more important 
than the quality of its delivery, and HPR is one of them. In the case of just 
about every podcast outside of HPR the presenters have willingly put themselves 
forward because they have sufficient confidence in their ideas and their 
ability to deliver them verbally that it is neither daunting nor difficult for 
them. HPR is different. We have, of course, more than our rightful share of 
great speakers who are also very adept at producing high quality audio 
recordings. However, unlike other podcasts many of our contributors might best 
be characterised as the kid sitting at the back of the class who has something 
to say that is important to him but is worried his ideas may be criticised or 
even ridiculed. His natural inclination, therefore, is to say nothing at all.

For a lot of contributors that first show may be a frustrating or even 
harrowing experience to produce - with sections being re-recorded perhaps over 
and over again in the hope of getting it "right". However, some of the best 
shows in terms of interesting content come from contributors who are clearly 
not at ease in front of a microphone. For high audio quality to be deemed a key 
attribute of what constitutes a good show is perhaps one extra burden on the 
nervous or reluctant contributor that might just prevent them from submitting 
one at all.

The stats demonstrate that it is considerably easier to attract a new HPR 
listener than a new HPR contributor, so it surely follows that it matters less 
if occasional sub-optimal audio quality deters a listener than the drive for 
audio excellence deters a potential contributor.

My own view is that part of the charm of HPR is precisely that you never quite 
know what you are going to get - especially when it is the first show of a new 
contributor. It is very rare for me not to listen to every show as it is 
released as I have come to realise that subjects that on face value have little 
interest to me often turn out to be quite the opposite. The technical expertise 
of many contributors is both inspiring and instructive but I have enjoyed 
non-technical shows every bit as much - such as Dave Morriss' pen collection, 
Klaatu's urban camping or Christopher M Hobbs' lunch breaks being particular 
highlights for me.

So I find myself both agreeing and disagreeing with Claudio at the same time. 
Best possible audio quality? Absolutely, but in the case of HPR in particular 
not at the expense of content quality.

Beeza

 LibreOffice - Free and open source office suite: LibreOffice 
Website<https://www.libreoffice.org>
 Respects your privacy, and gives you back control over your data

________________________________
From: Hpr <hpr-boun...@hackerpublicradio.org> on behalf of Claudio Miranda 
<clau...@linuxbasement.com>
Sent: 25 April 2021 19:08
To: nstr <n...@riseup.net>
Cc: hpr@hackerpublicradio.org <hpr@hackerpublicradio.org>
Subject: Re: [Hpr] Article by hedorah on HPR

Hi nstr,

Since I follow you on Mastodon, I noticed the article when someone boosted it 
and decided to give it a read. I also join in with the others in saying that an 
apology is not necessary and I also believe you made some great points.

Personally, I don't mind if the shows aren't polished as far as the recording 
is concerned. In some instances, maybe the volume is a bit too low and I just 
can't be bothered, but if someone records something from their phone on the way 
to work (which I have done as well as some others that have contributed), 
that's OK for me. It doesn't have to be polished as those "AAA" podcasts do, 
but it also can be if that's what the contributor wants, so long as the content 
is "of interest to hackers," the slogan of HPR in the first place. There have 
been some episodes I've heard that were a bit raw but provided some amazing 
info, and others that were a little more polished but personally saw no value 
in them. It is a rare occasion that I skip an episode even if I think I won't 
be interested, but it happens, and even that's fine because not everything will 
appeal to everyone.

As far as the schedule is concerned, it hasn't been something that's affected 
me directly. That being said, I know I need to contribute a show because I want 
HPR to continue for a long time. Life just gets in the way sometimes.  All 
things considered, you've given everyone a lot to think about given all the 
mailing list responses from your blog post, so that's a win in my book.

Welcome to the community!

-claudiom

On Sun, Apr 25, 2021 at 5:40 AM nstr <n...@riseup.net<mailto:n...@riseup.net>> 
wrote:
On 21-04-24 20:02, BK Navarette wrote:
> Funny, why does the blog writer not do  show? Give an example of quality. Or
> if they are shy use espeak or a volunteer to read i out, I'd be willing to
> help with either.
>
> Brian-in-ohio
>

Hello, I'm the author of the post.

I regret writing this post in hindsight. 'Quality' was a bad choice of
words. I also enjoy the DIY rawness of HPR and I certainly don't want it
to be more polished, in some professional sense. I've should have
replaced 'quality' with 'to my subjective interest' or something along
those lines.

The main point was to bring up the question of perhaps keeping empty
slots empty. As a non-contributing listener it's not my place to try to
impose my ideas on the project. Therefor I choose to post it on a
personal blog rather than, for example in this mailing list.

As for the reason I'm not submitting a shining example of a quality
show I've been a listener since at least hpr0980 :: Broadband for Rural
North and I've considered this many times and attempted it a few but I'm
terrible at podcasting and after this I don't want to be known as the
asshole who complained about HPR quality but still submits shows.

It was not my intent to offend anyone and I regret my choice of words.
I have huge respect for all of the contributors and I want to apologize
to all of you. I'm sorry.

All the best
--
rtsn

PGP: 8F72 C5BE AAFA B4BA 8F46 9185 5C39 89E0 616B B08C
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--
Claudio Miranda
Contributor - Hacker Public Radio
http://hackerpublicradio.org<https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fhackerpublicradio.org%2F&data=04%7C01%7C%7Ce9ae746a81d74318c07308d908155e9e%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637549710137798982%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=TruGBbqFoH8buVmVrKmed6T%2B9jyuen75Xvac5SXS0Cs%3D&reserved=0>


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