Why only feed?
You knew this was coming, don’t you?
One of the reasons I love and use (XML/RSS/Atom) feed extensively is not only because of its unobtrusive content delivery mechanism (as against the conventional browser http request) but also because it lets me free[1] my content.
Regular feed users don’t need elaboration on the subject, but even if you’re a casual feed user (or using it out of compulsion like for a primary point of access to my content, for example), realize that you’re on to something profound. The most popular operating system is not including feed as a primary feature for nothing. Simplicity, opt-in/opt-out, automatic content delivery, freedom to reuse, remix and anonymity (without having to disclose personal details–email address or IP addresses–if you’re accessing via a service) are some of the powerful and key features of its success. The definition of feed has changed drastically from being a bare-bones content to something extremely accessible, malleable and recyclable.
It is with this idea that I’m beginning to take this venn diagram pretty seriously. You might as well.
[1] Of course, it helps if you use Creative Commons license for your content to be truly free for others to derive upon.
Update: The other reason is–ofcourse–personal, and that is all you’ll get from me on this =).
To me there’s two kinds of blogs, Ugly ones and Pretty ones. I read ugly blogs through their RSS feeds, because it pains me to look at their sites. With pretty blogs, I just use their RSS feeds to know when it’s been updated, and then I go to their sites to read.
You had a pretty blog, but now I’ll have to group yours with the Uglies.
Dec 2, 05 at 20:49Ugly, eh? Well, so be it =)
Dec 3, 05 at 07:12