An RSS Button
Thursday, February 15, 2007 at 11:55AM 
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is becoming more and more popular. Why? RSS allows you to subscribe to content, like news, blogs, and podcasts. As you might already know, my preferred method of reading my RSS feeds is the free Bloglines web service. I can check on updated feeds on any computer with a web browser, including my handheld and mobile phone. Bloglines senses which web browser I am using and formats itself accordingly. Check out my public subscriptions if you want to see the RSS feeds I subscribe to.
RSS is an important part of what's called Web 2.0. What's Web 2.0 all about? The amazing video, Web 2.0...The Machine is Us/ing Us, by Michael Wesch at Kansas State University, does a great job explaining the new ways the web is being used. RSS is dubbed as a way to "describe the content, not the form. So the data can be exported, free of formatting constraints." Content without form is perfect for small screens as information can be formatted in ways that work best for the tiny computer you're using.
Here's proof of RSS's significance in mobile devices: Samsung's new WiBro SPH-M8100 Smartphone (running Windows Mobile) sports a dedicated RSS button (here are some photos). The button launches an RSS reader application. I wonder if you could remap that button to launch Explorer Mobile and go to Bloglines. I also wonder if this is the first of many phones to have an RSS button.
mobile phone 
Reader Comments (1)
That's cool, and I'm certainly a strong advocate for utilizing RSS wherever and whenever possible. I just wish I knew of a way to convince the less tech savvy among us that RSS is really is easy and useful. There's a small learning curve there that some people are just having a tough time getting over.
A dedicated RSS button, though...maybe that will be the convincer.