Kleenex, Xerox, and RSS
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Seems to be a mighty storm brewin' - a bit more powerful than a Nor'easter, too. Been a long time comin'. It's RSS, it's feeds, it's XML - it's all of the above. As an ex-English major, I'm torn. Does “Atom” really mean RSS? Does RDF really equal RSS 1.0? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop? The world may never know, but methinks RSS has officially entered the realm of Commodity. It's a digital Kleenex, a virtual Xerox. Some say “Coke” when they really want a Pepsi.
One guy screams: “RSS!” Another gal screams: “Feeds!” Another guy screams: “RDF!” Another gal screams: “Atom!” Joe & Judy Consumer scream: “I don't care!”
It wasn't bad enough we had to convince the world that syndication was a good thing? Here's the real problem: most of these arguments *ARE* correct. If I was forced to choose between one label or the other, I'd likely choose RSS. I hand out cute li'l RSS pins and cute li'l RSS t-shirts all the time - but I don't really care if a feed is Atom, RDF, RSS, or Bligmorp… so long as it works within my aggregator.
- Winer - Responding to Scoble
- Trying to get into the user's shoes about RSS and feeds
- About that RSS branding Robert…
- The RSS Crisis
- Microsoft Monitor - Out with the Name Blame
- TechBlog - What's wrong with RSS
- Torres Talking - Others and RSS naming
If you really feel like playing the “Feeds vs. RSS” blame-game, Microsoft didn't start that ball rolling… Amy Gahran did two years ago: What Are Webfeeds (RSS), and Why Should You Care (written on 10/18/2003). FWIW, I think Amy is one of the smartest women on the Web today.
5 Comments
Flack's Revenge
November 30th, 1999
at 12:00am
unintended consequences” part of my post title). Here’s an excerpt: “Jonathan Schwartz: to get the latest updates directly from Sun, be sure to subscribe to our RSS feeds. You know, people use the term RSS like Kleenex. As long as Sun isn’t using RSS 2.0 to disclose financial results, it will probably be OK. Let’s take a look at the first feed. Oops. Oh, well, it probably is still OK. If RSS 2.0 is used correctly, and Sun is a technology company after all,
Torgo
August 16th, 2005
at 12:06pm
Hell yes, Bligmorp is the way of the future.
Mitch Keeler
August 16th, 2005
at 12:38pm
I vote for “that little cute orange button that is on the Web page”. Catchy, ain't it?
Amy Gahran
August 16th, 2005
at 4:45pm
Awwww, thanks, Chris! I think you're pretty bright too.
Personally, I'm in favor of whatever label doesn't present an obstacle to non-geeks — which is why I thought any of the acronym- or standard-based names were a problem. “Feeds” seems easier — but really, I'd call them “bricks” or “rivers” or “gulls” if that made more sense to non-geeks. I'm not particularly attached to any special term, I'm simply in favor of functional communication. Generally, I don't think acronyms aid communication except among people who are already in the know.
:-)
- Amy Gahran
- Amy Gahran
eric
June 11th, 2008
at 11:17am
Hey, I agree with you that Amy is one of the best communication bloggers on the web! But I also like your style! I think RSS is the best Acronym, cos although many people don’t know exactly what it is, they have heard of it before…