RSS feeds converted to a book
There are two kinds people in the world: those who use RSS and those who don’t. I know, there are those in between who know what it is but simply don’t care. Or what about those who have 5 feeds versus those who have 1,000 feeds. However, I’m going to stick with the binary-esque approach, and claim that you either do or don’t. But that’s not the point. The point is sometimes I get labeled as a “nerd” or “geek” simply because I’m an advocate for RSS. When, really, all it means is I choose convenience over inconvenience. Sure, it’s a relatively new technology, but so what? Technology is what drives the world, and it’s only going to keep advancing. The way I see it, staying on top of that is an extreme advantage. Plus, it’s not only the highly technical, very nerdy (and geeky) web companies who have RSS feeds. Look at USA Today for instance. Surprisingly, they even support mobile RSS! Like it or not, over time, RSS will eventually play a role in the everyday life of the average person. Not everyone liked email when it first showed its face, and now I don’t think I could find a person who doesn’t have one.
[Scenario: At my high school reunion] “Yeah, I’m subscribed to 75 RSS feeds, and I read them through my aggregator everyday.” I believe it’s safe to say I’d be within the minority.
But what if I found a way to convert my RSS feeds into a bi-weekly book? A real, physical book. With a cover and all. And every three days or so, I had a new book to read. If I waited three days before reading what I read via RSS, I’m sure I’d have at least 200-300 pages of content. Now, if I were to tell the same people that I read a new 300 page book every three days, things would be different. All of a sudden I’d become “really smart” because I read 2-3 books per week. I guess people tend to criticize what they don’t understand. I don’t have any regrets about turning out as nerdy (or geeky) as I’ve turned out; in fact, I actually like it.
Chris Monday, 13 Nov, 2006 Posted at 08:32AM
I’ve been told I’m a geek/nerd, but I tend to take offense to it because it feels like an insult. It has a negative connotation to many people. I like the simpler idea of being considered “super genuis.” Just kidding, but in reality I personally would choose to be considered smart rather than a geek. Maybe that’s a geeky thing to desire :-) Of course, I would be dumb compared to you because I only check about 3-5 feeds.
I’m just glad that RSS feeds are easy to create, because they are no longer considered an extra feature, but a necessity for current web development. I remember Nick asking me what good an RSS feed for comments would be, but once you have that feed, you realize how useful it is.
Luke Williams Monday, 13 Nov, 2006 Posted at 09:44AM
Haha that sounds like a very interesting idea. It’s funny how people perceive advocates of new technology. A wider example would be computing when it first started, and now everyone uses it. I’m sure a similar thing will happen with RSS.
Speaking on convenience, I found a great way of sorting all your RSS feeds into one place: NetVibes:. Check it out.
Ryan Monday, 13 Nov, 2006 Posted at 11:35AM
Chris: Ha… well, let’s see. That would make me about 15x smarter than you?
After that realization, I think my theory is flawed! Seriously, though, I’m still awaiting a feed to pop up with the title “Chris Scharf has just accomplished the impossible”, or something of the sort. Are you still working on the revenue-generating site?
Luke: Yeah, my boss is an extensive user of NetVibes. I believe Google recently released a “tabbed” portal-type-of-thing as well. Personally, I still choose to use a reader, but I’ll check them out again just to make sure I’m making the right choice.
Nick Tuesday, 14 Nov, 2006 Posted at 03:01PM
I heart RSS. In fact, they’ve made me so lazy. All I’ve got to do is open up Safari and I’m instantly told if I have news articles to read or comments on my blog. Of course, I just check the feeds and realize that there’s not much in the news worth reading, so now I’m left with nothing to do! Ugh!