Mitch Wagner has a detailed entry posted at his InformationWeek blog (links below) that says that maybe there's more of us using RSS than we realize - as much as 31%, instead of figures like 6% of Internet users.

If Wagner's right, then this is very good news. His main point is that there are several different terms for content syndication. Not everyone who uses services like My Yahoo and My MSN realize that when they customize their account, they're using RSS (or Atom).

Wagner also echoes something I said in a previous entry, that some people don't even know they're using HTML while surfing the web. I maintain my position that we need transparent RSS/ Atom applications and more of them. Of course, that's relatively easier for hardware-based web feed apps, but a taller order for software. With hardware, feeds would be pre-programmed, and devices would have an easy-to-use physical interface.

With software, the closest we have to transparency is in fact services like My Yahoo and My MSN. So if you are developing and marketing new web feed software, keep this in mind. Use different terms for web feeds/ content syndication if you have to. But don't forget to tie all the terms together in documentation/ marketing brochures so that they're all synonmous with content syndication.

Links: Information Week, Mitch Wagner - InformationWeek Weblog: RSS: The Best Technology You're Using After All .

(c) Copyright: 2006-present, Raj Kumar Dash, http://www.chameleonintegration.com/

Technorati Tags: rsscases, rsscases, web feeds, content syndication