The future comes at every industry hard, including podcasting. Should you learn bleeding-edge skills you hope will emerge in the future, or relevant-now skills you hope will still be relevant in the future?I've made the bold statement that podcasters like you and me are the last generation of podcasters to use DAWs at the center of our creation process. The next generation will take a completely different approach, putting text-based editing tools at the center of their creation process. I still stand by that assertion. What worries me is the lack of a middle ground between these two approaches to making audio.Last month, I decided to take the plunge and go all-in with the new paradigm of using a text-based system to produce episodes for one of my clients' podcasts.So I sat aside my DAW and produced three episodes of the show using only Descript. It took some time to learn, but I was markedly faster by the third episode. And best of all, those episodes are indistinguishable from others made with a DAW. Mission accomplished! My experience proved my assertion that the next generation of podcasters will make content in this text-based way, not the waveform editing way. But I stopped after three episodes and switched back to my DAW, which brings me back to my assertion that there isn't much of a middle ground between these two paradigms. I had thought—naively—the experience would going to give me two vastly different approaches to making great-sounding audio in my toolkit. But it didn't work out that way. Not for me, at least. I blame it on my brain that had already gone through a paradigm shift to get waveform editing.But don't let my problem be your problem. If you're relatively new to podcasting or audio work and have a relatively young brain, try out the new, future way of making audio without a DAW. I still stand by my assertion that text-based editors will become the dominant way that podcasts are made in the future. How far away that future is rather questionable. The good news is that old dogs like us with mad skills to make great sounding audio the DAW-based way won't be displaced by young whippersnappers with their fancy text-based processes anytime real soon. Not as long as the output sounds the same to the ears of our listeners. So breathe easy. For now.-----LinksGetting more than 10K downloads per episode? Talk to Gumball.fm! The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice.Descript for text-based podcast productionSerious about podcasting? Join the Advancing Podcasting Community today!------ Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media. New episodes are released four times a week, providing ideas and questions every serious podcaster should be thinking about.It's created and hosted by Evo Terra. Follow him on Twitter for more podcasting insights as they come. Allie Press assists with the production and transcription of the show.If you received value from today's episode of Podcast Pontifications, return some of that! We call it value-for-value, and there are many ways to show your support.Mentioned in this episode:Support For Abortion RightsWhile Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th. Abortion is a basic healthcare need for the millions of people who can become pregnant. Everyone should have the freedom to decide what’s best for themselves and their families, including when it comes to ending a pregnancy. This decision has dire consequences for individual health and safety, and could have harsh repercussions for other landmark decisions. Restricting access to comprehensive reproductive care, including abortion, threatens the health and independence of all Americans. Even if you live in a state where abortion rights are upheld, access to safe medical procedures shouldn’t be determined by location, and it shouldn't be the privilege of a small few. You can help by donating to local abortion funds. To find out where to donate for each state, visit donations4abortion.com. If you or someone you know needs help, or if you want to get more involved, here are 5 resources: 1. ShoutYourAbortion.com is a campaign to normalize abortion. 2. DontBanEquality.com is a campaign for companies to take a stand against abortion restrictions. 3. Abortion.cafe has information about where to find clinics. 4. PlanCPills.org provides early at-home abortion pills that you can keep in your medicine cabinet. 5. Choice.CRD.co has a collection of these resources and more. We encourage you to speak up! And spread the word.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy