IE7: RSS vs. Web Feeds vs. Firefox...oh my
There's an interesting debate occurring right now about the future of RSS and its accompanying terminology. This has been set off by the announcement that IE 7 Beta 1 supports RSS feeds (.9x, RSS 1.0, and RSS 2.0), with ATOM support to come. I for one think this is a nice new feature to add to a web browser, something that was long overdue for a technology that has been around for years. Microsoft is taking heat on this topic, mainly for three reasons:
- Firefox already supports feeds as 'Live Bookmarks', and some see MS as 'borrowing' the technology.
- Naming standards have the bloggers up in arms. IE 7 is loosely set to use the term 'Web feeds'. Dave Winer, father of RSS, and others feel this is an insult to the technology they pioneered, and feel that the machine is simply creating a new term to send to market. Supporters argue that since ATOM will be supported as well, "RSS Feeds" is not an approprate term, as the technologies differ. A lively comment log is building here about the naming standard.
- Posts are accumlating about how we shouldn't be impressed, as this is XSLT transformation being spun into a slick new item. I disagree, but sometimes people like to point out that they weren't fooled. So what? If it makes something easier for one person, isn't that an improvement? Microsoft is not claiming they invented this technology, and I'm sure its effect will be predictable, if not desired: Techies will revolt against, or more likely, ignore the new feature, but it will bring casual internet users face to face with a nice method of keeping up on blogs and news articles. As a programmer, I sometimes have to place myself in the shoes of my mother, (I got them on sale <g>), and think like she would when trying some new gadget or software. She would NEVER give an aggregator the time of day, and has no interest in keeping up with the latest articles on her top 10 websites, like we would. She would, however, like to be able to click a button and see the latest information neatly displayed within her browser.
I'm looking forward to seeing just how well IE 7 is received, it should be interesting. For now, the debate rages on....
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