Back

@anildash We desperately need an RSS-like medium for written content, but with respect for formatting and branding.

To me, I think the reason why audio has long remained the perfect object for the medium of podcasting is that an audio file can’t be modified. It’s delivered as the creator intended.

I think email won the war for newsletters because it does a better job respecting the “as the creator intended” truism than RSS does.

I’m sure people will push back on this POV. But it’s so obvious.

@anildash We need that radical openness that podcasts have across mediums. It is the purest gatekeeper-free medium that we have; we need to duplicate it.

@ernie @anildash From my perspective I see most publishers providing RSS/Atom webfeeds. They don't always promote it, but they often do.

And besides: webfeeds link to webpages the exact same way podcasts link to audio. The difference is how clients choose to present it.

I fail to see the problem?

@alcinnz @anildash The problem is not with the format, it’s what the format does for the creator or publisher.

You can make a living on a podcast because you often shape how it’s distributed and what it includes. You often cannot make a living on an RSS feed, because the content is untethered from things that allow for business models.

@alcinnz @anildash (And to be clear, ads are not what I’m referring to, at least not entirely.)

@ernie @anildash Again: I don't see any lack of uptake amongst publishers. But what you're complaining about is an issue with many, not all, feedreading clients.

I see the issue as being with a promotion of feedreaders, most people don't know the tech exists.

@alcinnz @anildash I think you’re misunderstanding what I’m asking for.

I’m saying content should be presented as a single piece, exactly matching the creator’s intention, with design. I basically want to see a format that presents information similar to a newsletter.

RSS feeds are often neglected, even forgotten by publishers, because they do not make them money. We need a higher-end publishing format that allows publishers to better control how they present themselves.

@alcinnz @anildash I think RSS deserves an update that allows publishers more control over the experience, but also isn’t stuck in the backwater of 25-year-old email markup.

@alcinnz @anildash The best comparison I have is that I want to see someone take the parts of Google AMP that were a good idea and combine them with the good parts of RSS.

@ernie @anildash I get the impression that a client could address these concerns, without updating the protocol. Though I might be wrong.

Basically we're arguing over strategy.

It'd be great for Mozilla to tackle this, I think it'd be *well* worth the investment for them! But I'm not holding my breath.

Or I'm willing to incorporate your ideas into my work, but that won't have the adoption.

@anildash @ernie In practice: Adoption of a new iteration of the standards is also piecemeal & voluntary. These standards orgs will tell you as much, & I have personal experience.

And one disagreement between me & Ernie (different perspectives) is that I don't see these gripes as the core issue hindering webfeed adoption. They'd be good to address, especially in the process of promoting the tech. Since I see the main hindrance being that noone's heard of it.