on the mysteries of RSS...
Let me just start off by saying that I am someone who has never used a webfeed. I consider myself fairly technologically advanced, but whenever someone starts talking about RSS I tend to let my mind wander. However, I am very aware of how many e-mail newsletters are getting sent out and how many of them (thankfully) get caught in my spam filter. For those of you like me who don't completely understand how RSS work, this is a good primer. After reading it, I can now appreciate the concept of RSS feeds.
The concept of only receiving the news you want and getting it when you want is a good one. Perhaps as this communications medium becomes more commonplace, it can largely replace e-mail newsletters, benefiting both the sendee and the recipient. Amy Gahren, the author of this primer, claims that setting up an RSS is not technologically difficult. If that is indeed true, I think it is something campaigns should seriously consider utilizing as a replacement for the plethora of newsletters it typically sends out.
If an RSS feed truly works to centralize the news a person receives, then it could be one of the best things to happen to Internet communication in a long time.
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On Friday, June 24th, Microsoft announced, at Gnomedex, which took place in Seattle, that the new version of Internet Explorer (IE7) would fully support RSS. They also plan to integrate other uses for RSS and OPML into the next version of their operating system, codenamed "Longhorn".
Because around 80% of the online population is still using Internet Explorer and Windows, I have a feeling that RSS will gain a lot of momentum and become a lot more widely "known" by people that have been letting their minds "wander".
Now that you appreciate the concept, I'm sure you'll appreciate the possibility that it will get even more popular.
RSS was actually introduced back in 1997. It's only gained popularity over the past couple of years because of the amount of people that have started blogging.
Tom Simpson
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