One of the complaints I've heard about RSS is that RSS Reader software keeps multiple feeds in separate folders. Very few RSS Readers behave as, say, an Email Reader application does. The application that can take multiple RSS feeds and dovetail the items, ordered by increasing age, will likely be a "killer application" the will help popularize RSS among content consumers.

Actually, let me clarify. Most RSS Readers do in fact offer a feature where a subscriber can view multiple feeds a single, dovetailed feed. However, this is not the default setting. You must do the extra work necessary to group the feeds you want dovetailed.

Since RSS is touted as a potential alternative to email for certain web marketing scenarios, RSS client software then needs to behave as much like an email reader as possible. At the very least, end users should be able to consume all of their subscribed feeds' items in a single stream. This should be the default setting. As with an email reader, end users should then also be able to move items into folders, when desired. [Actually, this is automatic ,whenever a new feed is subscribed to.]

This is simply my opinion, as both a long-time programmer/analyst, as well as a software end user and RSS evangelist. I find consuming RSS feeds at present to be better than having to type in multiple URLs one after another into a web browser. However, this is still not as enticing as being able to consume multiple feeds in a single stream automatically. (The diagram at the end of this post demonstrates.)

Surprisingly, using XML parsers, XQuery, and XSLT programming technology, dovetailing several RSS feeds together is not all that difficult to accomplish. So why hasn't anyone done it yet? [Again I reiterate, as the default setting, not as something the subscriber has to achieve.]

Well, some websites are actually offering this feature for feed subscribers. However, I have yet to see this in a standalone RSS Reader application. If I'm mistaken, please feel free to drop us a comment.