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Living in XML?
Merlin Mann | Sep 17 2004
Danny O’Brien, among others, has been noting how many nerds have started piping as much of their life as possible through personal XML feeds, using stuff like RSS and Atom. I’m intrigued by this, but, apart from the 100 sites I read each day in NetNewsWire, I’m only dipping a toe into the world of personal RSS. I get a feed of shows my friends are attending and Netflix recommendations, but not too much more. I know there's a lot more out there. One thing I’ve really started to love is reading comments and updates via RSS and Atom (instead of email). I think Flickr is way ahead of the curve on this one: I can get feeds of practically anything, including recent comments on my photos, recent photos by my contacts or even photos by keyword. I’d love to see the folks at LiveJournal look at something similar. It’s a brilliant way to consolidate and “bubble up” information that used to require a lot of drill-down in scattered locations. It seems like the way things are heading, to be sure. Anyway, I’d love to hear how you are using XML feeds in ways that you find productive and cool; How have you piped your life? Not so much the typical use of feeds for blogs and news—we all know about that. But how about personal calendars, reminders, work notes, and the rest of the administrivia in your life? Was it hard to setup? Anybody keeping a private blog? Let's hear about it. Layman’s terms and links gratefully accepted, as ever. (Also: aching for the next round of that Atom vs. RSS [.91|1|2] breakdance fight? Take it outside, Boogaloo Shrimp. We're keeping it friendly on this street. TIA.) 28 Comments
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 been wondering whether just piping...Submitted by Merlin on September 18, 2004 - 2:52am.
been wondering whether just piping everything to rss is the 90’s email inbox information overload all over again That’s a great point, Al. My gut check is that this is a better way to go than email for some information for a few reasons:
I really think things are starting to evolve. As people become more comfortable with stuff like instant messages and forums, I think we’ll start to see more sophistication in the ways people in our circles share information. There’s that old saying about every problem looking like a nail when all you own is a hammer; I think RSS represents the badly needed Philips Head Screwdriver in a lot of folks’ lives. Email is great—nearly perfect—for some kinds of communication, and absolutely pointless and unscalable for others. RSS can pick up a lot of the slack, I think. » POSTED IN:
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