How do podcast subscriptions work?

Hmm, well from my experience with iTunes podcasts, you have to hook your iPod up to the computer and go into iTunes, then get to the podcasts section and download the new episode(s) manually every time. So no, as far I’ve seen, it is not automatic.

then why “subscribe”?

Well, it tells you when there are new episodes of it, and instead of just downloading the one episode, you’re signing up to, eventually, download a whole series of them, thus the subscription.

Other than that, no idea..

hmm…cornfusing! it does not tell me anything :( or perhaps, i just ignore it. selective reading? i guess i’ll start paying more attention. and using it more than twice a year… :D

Haha. If you go to the podcast page, it should tell you if you have new episodes waiting to be downloaded. =)

Actually, iTunes should automatically download new episodes of subscribed podcasts. Check your podcast preferences, perhaps automatic downloads have been disabled.

Subscribing to Podcasts in iTunes is really just connecting iTunes to a glorified RSS feed. When a new episode becomes available, iTunes is notified. as blue* said, your prefs, may be set to “do nothing.” To change this:

* ctrl + ,
* Podcasts (tab)
* change the option over what happens when new eppisodes become available.

As to how they show up in WMP:
WMP has a system that scans folders for updated content and adds said updated content to your WMP library. I don’t think that the aforementioned system runs in real time.