A Highly Recommended Podcast Note-Taking Tool: Podwise.Ai

（1100 words, 10 mins read)

Scene Review

Childhood Curiosity

As a child, I loved tinkering with the household radio. Despite the old-fashioned radio's frequent noise and difficulty in tuning to desired channels, and despite the elders' strong objections and concerns about listening to foreign stations, my youthful curiosity remained undeterred. Reflecting on it now, my passion for fiddling with the radio likely stemmed from a desire for knowledge, information, and cognitive development.

University Years

During my university years, I was often restless at night and unable to sleep. I'd put on headphones and listen to various radio programs, such as "Urban Night Wanderer" and music request shows. At that time, my enthusiasm for radio was driven by an emotional need to alleviate the restless energy of youth.

Entering the Workforce

After entering the workforce, the prevalence of smartphones gradually replaced traditional radio with podcasts. I began exploring various podcast apps, listening to programs on music, business, technology, and more. Podcasts became much more convenient; there was always something to listen to during my available time. To improve my English listening skills, I specifically chose English podcasts like "The Mentor with Mark Bouris," "Projectified," and "Project Management Podcast."

From childhood to adulthood, I have continuously gained knowledge through audio media. While podcasts have many advantages, they also have several shortcomings.

Characteristics of Podcasts

Advantages

1. Freeing Up the Eyes and Using the Ears: Listening to podcasts allows for knowledge acquisition without occupying vision. In spiritual practice, auditory perception is considered highly effective, and while listening to podcasts differs from spiritual practice, focusing on auditory input can enhance concentration.

2. Utilizing Time Efficiently: Podcasts are ideal for multitasking activities such as commuting, driving, household chores, traveling, or exercising. I often listen to podcasts during moxibustion, and some people enjoy listening while bathing.

3. Rich and Convenient Content, Mostly Free: Many popular podcast apps are available, such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Castro, Xiaoyuzhou, YouTube Podcasts, and music players that feature podcast content. Most podcasts are free and cover a wide range of topics, allowing me to explore new music and gain broader perspectives through music podcasts.

4. Lively and Interesting: Podcast hosts generally manage the rhythm and tone of their speech, making the content engaging. Compared to reading books, listening to podcasts is more relaxing.

Shortcomings

1. Rewinding Issues: Podcasts are linear in time, and rewinding to previous content can be inconvenient, even with time markers.

2. Recording Knowledge Points: It’s challenging to take notes while driving or doing chores, and it’s easy to forget what was heard.

3. Lengthy Programs: Podcasts must be listened to in sequence, and the content may not always meet expectations, wasting time.

4. Review and Reference: Podcasts lack the structure and outlines found in books, making it difficult to review specific content.

5. Unclear Structure: Some podcasts lack a specific structure, requiring structured notes for better understanding.

6. Keywords and Technical Terms: It's hard to look up terms while listening, leading to forgetfulness.

7. Ear Fatigue: Prolonged listening can strain the ears, and continuous listening for more than two hours can be uncomfortable.

8. English Podcasts: Comprehension is lower for non-native speakers, and having transcripts would be helpful.

Discovering Podwise and Subscribing

The advancement of AI technology has significantly improved applications for extracting, summarizing, analyzing, and translating text and audio. Podwise is a SaaS tool that emerged from this technological progress.

After recognizing the shortcomings of podcasts, I reduced my listening time and turned to YouTube for learning. However, while browsing Twitter, I stumbled upon Podwise and decided to try it. I found that it addressed many of the issues I had with podcasts.

The Podwise team has a podcast called "Indie Hackers," which discusses business models and entrepreneurial insights with sincerity. Based on the following three points, I decided to subscribe to Podwise:

1. Podwise offers the functionalities I need.

2. I appreciate the Podwise team and their podcast "Indie Hackers."

3. Podwise’s recommended podcasts are increasingly engaging, and I hope to see more transcribed programs.

Features of Podwise

Podwise compensates for the eight shortcomings of podcasts in the following ways:

1. Rewinding Issues: Podwise provides summaries, mind maps, keywords, highlights, transcripts, and show notes, making it easy to find playback points.

2. Recording Knowledge Points: Transcripts can be imported into Reader for marking important parts and synchronizing with Heptabase, facilitating knowledge integration.

3. Lengthy Programs: Summaries, mind maps, and highlights help quickly determine if the content is worth listening to.

4. Review and Reference: Transcribed content exported to Notion or Readwise Reader aids in efficient review.

5. Unclear Structure: Podwise provides mind maps to help grasp the overall structure of the podcast content.

6. Keywords and Technical Terms: Podwise offers keywords with explanations, making further research easier.

7. Ear Fatigue: Podwise’s features allow for skipping to relevant parts, making lengthy podcasts more manageable.

8. English Podcasts: Transcripts can be imported into Reader and used with immersive translation tools for better comprehension.

Podwise seamlessly integrates into my workflow, enhancing the efficiency of knowledge acquisition and integration.

Suggestions for Podwise

1. Enhance community engagement, such as the activity level in the Discord group, and share program recommendations.

2. Add export options, such as PDF or Markdown, for ordinary users.

3. Include a feature introduction section, such as highlighting and sharing in the Transcript.

4. Improve translation functionality for English programs, especially in the mobile version.

5. Develop a mobile app or provide instructions on adding the browser version to the mobile home screen.

6. Expand the feature gap between Standard and Pro plans to attract more Pro subscribers.

The Paradox of Supply Exceeding Demand

The acquisition and internalization of knowledge depend on our ability to digest it. Although Podwise.ai provides many conveniences, it does not enhance our cognitive abilities. The Feynman technique suggests learning by teaching, emphasizing the importance of knowledge output for better understanding. Writing blogs or sharing thoughts on social media are effective ways to practice this.

Conclusion

Podwise is beautifully designed and user-friendly. With the ongoing development of large language models, its functionality and content accuracy will continue to improve. I hope Podwise can further assist us in knowledge management. Don’t forget to use the discount code provided by the Podwise team to enjoy additional savings on your subscription.

Overall, Podwise not only enhances my workflow but also improves the efficiency of knowledge acquisition and integration, making it a highly recommended tool for anyone looking to maximize their podcast experience.