Where Would We Be Wthout It?

RSS is the biggest thing since the MP3!

I thought it was only natural that I should include an entry on RSS feeds. Much of what I've been talking about depends on RSS to make content easier to transfer.

I don't know much about RSS, so I had to do some research myself. All I know is that I've seen it on sites, blogs, etc. and usually never click on it because I'm not a subscriber. Even the podcasts I download seem to fall by the wayside, what with all the other reading that I must accomplish. But, here goes...

I originally thought that RSS stood for Really Simple Script. I read this somewhere, and to be honest it makes just as much sense to me as what it really stands for, Rich Site Summary. I needed the ultimate idiot's guide to RSS, and found it at this site.

The site, called simply, What is RSS? is a one page document that tells the normal everyday computer user all they need to know about RSS. This includes me. Just like JPG, GIF, AVI, and PDF, RSS is just another format for transmitting media. RSS feeds (as they're called) deliver regularly changing content. News is a prime example of the benefits of a feed. Do you know anything else about JPG other than it is a picture? And do you really need to know anymore? I doubt it.

I'd personally rather go to the site itself and get what I need rather than getting a whole feed. I'm picky and choosy about what I watch and listen to, so that is my rationale for not taking advantage of RSS. I think I partly hate all the acronyms. Look for the icon at the head of this post on websites to subscribe to the RSS for that particular site.