RSS in the Mainstream
FastCompany just published a nice little piece called “Learning to Love RSS“, which discusses the rise of RSS among users who know what it is, and especially among those who don’t.
This latter group is interesting… people using syndication technology without knowing it. I liken it to those who browse the web without knowing what HTML is. Clearly the vast majority of web users today don’t know HTML, but the technology is as firmly a part of our culture as the television.
Will RSS one day become as ubiquitous as HTML, or even email? These stats from the article are compelling…
“Thirty percent of magazine Web sites provide RSS feeds. Jupiter reports that 30% of large companies have deployed RSS feeds on their sites. The New York Times has seen page views stemming from RSS feeds increase 342% from March 2004 to March 2005, with no special effort to market RSS, according to a Times spokesperson.”
Alison Overholt, author of the article, states the situation well:
“Email didn’t go mainstream because people understood how data packets made their way around the Net. It happened when an email client made that technology invisible and easy to use. RSS will likely follow a similar path.”
