>Taran wrote: "...I continuously wonder why RSS isn't used instead of >email..."
Hi Taran et al Personally I think RSS is just too passive as a communications technology. If an individual email is easy to ignore, then RSS is even easier. It seems to be just a way of pushing things directly into the "some time I'll get round to it" folder without any form of information triage / headline processing. This means its usefulness is limited. Take for example, a community organisation wanting to get its needs and news in front of potential sponsors - how can they use RSS to publicise their work more effectively than email? We've implemented RSS support on our MicroAid system for community group newsletters (http://www.griya-asih.microaid.net/news.htm) (http://www.griya-asih.microaid.net/rss.php?type=news&lg=en) (much due to the influence of you and this DDN list you'll be pleased to know) but it still seems fairly underused. Am I missing something critical / not understanding fully the benefits of RSS? I think Email is still the killer app of the internet and our work needs to be on improving quality and reliability of email as a communications tool. The over zealous spam filter problem identified in Andy's blog is one we'd all like fixed as it's a minority of sophisticated spamming organisations ruining things for the majority at present. Kind Regards Toby ----------------- Toby Beresford Director MicroAid +44 (0)20 7622 8969 www.microaid.net Web Systems for Community Groups -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Taran Rampersad Sent: 04 May 2005 00:32 To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group Subject: Re: [DDN] emergency alert emails get treated like spam (fwd) Jesse Sinaiko wrote: >Taran wrote: "...I continuously wonder why RSS isn't used instead of >email..." > >Most people use MSIE. In their infinite wisdom, the good people at MS have >failed to integrate RSS into MSIE. > > Jesse, there are standalone readers and there are also possibilities for using SMS->RSS and... RSS->SMS. Trust me on that. >If you want to reach the maximum number of people because there are 120 MPH >winds bearing down on you, RSS won't do the trick. > Well, you haven't defined how close 'bearing down' is. If you're 120 miles away, RSS could be sort of useful, especially in conjunction with other technologies. > Soon hopefully, but not >now. One of the many reasons why dependence on MS is one of the main >reasons the web is so screwed up. They really are very irresponsible above >and beyond their nasty and often illegal business practices. > > Well, I'll be the last person to defend Microsoft - but let's give Microsoft it's due. It's made technology more accessible, and I can't fault the money that they made on that. What I do find fault with are the business strategy in conjunction with technology, and the fact that they have a well documented (and litigated) past for being unfair in the market. >RSS makes total sense, but according to the gurus at MS, RSS isn't important >enough to add via an update. It may or may not be included in the >(supposedly) upcoming MSIE 7. > > Err. Then don't use MSIE. Use Mozilla. >Only 50 million Firefox downloads so far. A great number, but only a drop >in the bucket in terms of the total number of browsers in use. Until MSIE >has integrated RSS or someone (Google?) knocks off MS, anyone looking to >maximize their Internet coverage has to do it the way MS dictates. It's >very grating, but it's reality. And if I was a public safety official, I >would need to understand that. > > OK, well... I disagree. Microsoft is only relevant as long as people make it relevant. Microsoft isn't really the issue, Microsoft is just a vendor (though their advertisements and business practices may send confusing signals). Microsoft only matters because people want Microsoft to matter. If people actually started demanding more of their software and did not buy software that did not do what they wanted to do, then Microsoft would be forced to deal with the community to remain competitive. But that requires the community to stop playing 'sitting duck'. And of course, I'm not betting on Microsoft in the future... but I'm finding it harder to bet on a community that consistently has supported inferior software only because their friend uses it. We should be demanding a little bit more, and that takes effort. It's the same effort that is required with Free Software and Open Source. Exactly the same. People have to be interested enough in what they use to demand more of it. -- Taran Rampersad Presently in: Panama City, Panama [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.linuxgazette.com http://www.a42.com http://www.knowprose.com http://www.easylum.net "Criticize by creating." - Michelangelo _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
