Wikivoyage talk:External links/Audio guides

See also:

• Project:Goals and non-goals#Audio tours

Audio guides - "otherguide" status

What not to link to currently states: "In particular, avoid links to other travel guides."

Should a note be added clarifying that this includes/excludes links to audio tour guides (eg www.audiotravel.com)?

I don't think that's necessary; it seems pretty clear that it does include audio guides. --(WT-en) Evan 11:18, 16 November 2006 (EST)

Perhaps the "confusion" results from thinking of it as an "audio tour" rather than an "audio guide", and listing it in a "tours" section, alongside other types of tours, eg bicycle tours, walking tours, etc, which I would guess the audio guide/tour people must regard as competitors (and which travellers would probably see as alternatives?) ~ 61.91.191.11 11:55, 16 November 2006 (EST)

Yes, I developed the audio tours as an alternative to guided tours. The audio tour shows travelers around the city just like a personal guide except that there’s no rigid schedule or large group to follow. The audio tour listing would provide Wikivoyage visitors, who like to travel independently, an alternative to the other guided tours that are listed. For this reason, I think the listing is a good fit in the tours section and I would like to re-list it. (WT-en) Dina 05:20, 30 November 2006 (EST)

I just came across the slowly growing list of audio guides on the London page, and then found this old conversation... I'm with Evan, this seems no different than linking to any other kind of guide, which we don't do... it doesn't matter that it's audio and fits on your ipod - I'm going to remove it, and if anyone disagrees, speak up here (WT-en) - Cacahuate 17:09, 16 February 2007 (EST)

I believe audio guides are much less our competitors than LPs or even Michelin restaurant guides. Audio guides can afford much more details then we have space for at wikivoyage in its current format, and I believe we won't be close to that level of details even in Star articles in foreseeable future. Besides, I think (although I didn't research the subject thoroughly) that audio guides focus on History, Understand and Attractions -- but never on practical side of travel, like hotels, restaurants or activities. And finally, audio guides provide framework, sequence and point of view--while we at Wikivoyage give much more freedom to the traveller (which is therefore a benefit for audience we target, and a shortcoming for consumers of audio guide).

In a nutshell: I believe we don't actually compete with audio guides, and helping a traveler to find an audio guide if he prefers that makes us more helpful for him--remember Traveler Comes First? --(WT-en) DenisYurkin 20:17, 17 February 2007 (EST)

So then what do you think sets apart audio guides from any other of the external links that we don't allow on the pages? (WT-en) - Cacahuate 03:07, 18 February 2007 (EST)

First is media we are not going to be in in foreseeable future (audio). Second is content structure and sequence we don't use here in most cases, except, rarely, iterinaries (which are normally very specific, compared to general-overview format of an audio guide). --(WT-en) DenisYurkin 03:30, 18 February 2007 (EST)

Competition isn't the issue, we're giving away our content for free. I think it's more about keeping the guides focused, and keeping any relevant traveler info in the guides, instead of linking to others, whether they be in text format, audio or otherwise (WT-en) - Cacahuate 06:08, 18 February 2007 (EST)

Yeah, I agree with Cacahuate. We don't not link to external guides because we fear competition, it's just one of our core non-goals to be a link directory and a core goal to be useful offline. It seem we have this discussion over every single different type of web media ("video is different!" "photo galleries are different!" "blogs are different!" "audio guides are different!"). A link is a link. (WT-en) Maj 11:24, 18 February 2007 (EST)

I suggest to include links to audioguides as a service to our users. Audioguides, like organised tours, are a way to enjoy your holiday. The only difference is that the 'story' comes on an ipod for the audioguide and trough a person in case of an organised tour. From a travelers perspective there is no difference so let's help them by pointing them to the relevant information and include the audioguides as we include the organised tours. Also, please be aware that audioguides do not compete with travel books or Wikivoyage as the content and presentation are vastly different. --(WT-en) Frank Gerritsma 16:30, 21 February 2008 (EST)

I'm not sure I agree, I've tried a few tour podcasts, mostly downloaded from torrents cause I suspect the quality varies greatly, and I don't want to shell out good money, on poor quality, when I can have multiple beers for the same price. Anyway, several of the ones I've tried were surprisingly good and provided in-depth information about the attractions, something which is more or less a non-goal for us - unlike say Lonely Planet - which more or less strives to be the exact same thing as we do. I've actually inadvertently broken this policy myself with a link to Audiowalks in the Copenhagen do section, since I know for a fact that they are good quality for the price, we can root out spam, just as we do with other listings which are generally accepted. --(WT-en) Stefan (sertmann) ^Talk 11:30, 3 February 2009 (EST)