I pass this on "for what it's worth"...
From : Ben Seattle <[email protected]>
> What is Really Simple Syndication ?
I will try to explain this in non-technical language since RSS appears destined to become very important and most of our reading audience is non-technical.
RSS is a relatively simple technology that makes it easy for news organizations as well as people who author "blogs" (ie: online diaries, known as "web logs", where the most recent entry is on
top and readers generally have an opportunity to comment on the posts) to store their posts in a format that can be read by other software.
For example a post in RSS format might look something like this:
<item>
<title>Earth Invaded</title>
<link>http://news.example.com/2004/12/17/invasion</link>
<description>The earth was attacked by an invasion fleet
from halfway across the galaxy; luckily, a fatal
miscalculation of scale resulted in the entire armada
being eaten by a small dog.</description>
</item>
The posts which (like the sample above) are stored in RSS format are then aggregated (ie: collected) and displayed by readers using "aggregation software" which functions much like a web browser or email client.
For example, if the Seattle and Portland Indymedia centers stored their posts in RSS format--then I would be able to tell my
aggregation software to show me the collected posts from both Seattle and Portland (as well as all the other info sources that I wanted to follow on a regular basis).
The combination of syndication (by content creators) and aggregation (by content readers) holds potential to transform the reading habits of millions of people.
For example, instead of my having to look at 20 different web
sites for today's stories--I could simply tell my aggregator to collect the recent stories from the 20 news or blog sites that I might regularly follow.
The RSS format originated as a plaything of the tech elite and is in the process of gradually filtering down to the masses of internet users. The best comparison is to the status of html
(and the web) in the year 1994: the tech elite can see that it is destined to explode--but most people still haven't heard of it.
The promise (and threat) posed by RSS is, in my view, quite large. If the Seattle Indymedia site, for example, were to accept RSS feeds--then the number of posts which readers would need to rate and filter might increase by a factor of a hundred--or ten thousand--or more.
So it appears to me that the popularization of RSS syndication and aggregation promises a shake-up of sorts. It will likely greatly increase the pressure for rating and filtering of posts: if you only have time to read X posts a day--you want to get the most compelling content for your precious reading minutes--and this will require that you leverage the judgements of thousands of other people who share your convictions.
For reasons too complex to try to explain at this time--I am of the conviction that this evolution will ultimately be in a very democratic direction.
Some links are below.
(The first two references below may be the most useful.)
1. Introduction to RSS
http://www.webreference.com/authoring/lang.../xml/rss/intro/
2. RSS Tutorial for Content Publishers and Webmasters
http://www.mnot.net/rss/tutorial/
3. Sun, RSS and Apple Challenge Office Dominance--Dec 8, 2003
http://www.eweek.com/print_article/0,3048,...a=113951,00.asp
But a disruptive technology is emerging that could change everything. For my money, it's RSS [...] I'm talking about a technology that could be as disruptive to personal computing as the digital video recorder has been to television.
The DVR started as an early-adopter tool for the media elite and is now seeing further adoption in satellite TV packages. Next-generation TVs will ship DVR-ready. RSS, too, began as a tool of the tech elite. Generated by Weblog authoring tools such as the pioneering Radio UserLand, RSS feeds were consumed by a growing circle of cross-linking bloggers and a spillover audience from the trade press. But vendors and developers soon saw the
opportunity to deliver content directly to the technical audience, and users saw a way to route around the growing inefficiency of e-mail and Web browsing.
4. Look Out, Outlook: RSS Ahead in 2004--Nov 28, 2003
http://www.eweek.com/print_article/0,3048,...a=113453,00.asp
5. New Browser Based RSS Aggregator
http://weblog.siliconvalley.com/column/dan...archives/001585
.shtml#001585
6. The Whys and Hows of Weblogs
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconva...iness/columnist
s/dan_gillmor/ejournal/2529085.htm
7. RSS 2.0 Specification (the official technical spec)
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss
The RedStar2000 Papers
A site about communist ideas
