Sunday, March 14, 2004

Really Simple Explanation of RSS


If you are unfamiliar with Really Simple Syndication Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols has a good story in today's Washington Post:

Overwhelmed by online news? Instead of wearing out your Web browser's "refresh" command to check for the latest updates, a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) program can fetch the news for you.

RSS lets Web sites publish free "feeds" of their content, which a program called a newsreader collects on a set schedule, displaying new headlines and links for you to read within the newsreader or, with one click, in your Web browser.


Check out the part about Macs-

Mac users, meanwhile, have a much simpler choice: Ranchero Software's NetNewsWire Lite (Mac OS X 10.1 or newer, free at Ranchero Software; scroll down the page for the $40 pay version of NetNewsWire for the link). Besides offering a pleasant, elegant interface, it includes a helpful "subscribe" function, akin to Feed Demon's auto-discover feature, that can sign up for a site's feed automatically.

Mac products, always simpler, easier, with more elegant design. When is the rest of the industry going to get the memo?

No comments: