RSS is the Web 2.0 "Pipe"
posted Friday, 11 November 2005
Problematically, RSS is still not quite a household word yet, and even the software industry is just beginning to realize the importance of this workhorse syndication format. Though at this point it's already clear RSS will be the key enabler of Web 2.0 and Software As a Service. It will do this both as a notification system and as the actual glue that will eventually hold many Web 2.0 services and mash-ups together.
Dave Winer famously created the current incarnation of RSS but its implications are still rippling through the industry. The folks that can fully appreciate RSS will reap corresponding rewards. Microsoft CTO's Ray Ozzie is a good example of the folks that "get" the significance of RSS. I love the quote from his much-discussed leaked memo this week and I haven't been able to stop using it for the last day: "[RSS] is filling a role as ‘the UNIX pipe of the internet’ as people use it to connect data and systems in unanticipated ways."
And we can't forget that RSS feeds, storage, synchronization will be a central new feature of the next version of Windows.
So expect to see RSS on every blog, every Web 2.0 service, web site, and piece of desktop software going forward. If you can't find the feed, you can be sure whatever it is won't last long.
And for the fully buzzword compliant and for the record, I do fundamentally believe REST/RSS is the new EAI. And the glue of first choice for lightweight SOA as well. And I'm actively starting to see some folks drop their traditional Web services and go RSS wholesale.
Of course, the real problem right now is that most people on the Web still don't have any idea what RSS is. At best, the average Web user might understand that RSS forms some kind of information "feed". More sophisticated users notice that if they can find an RSS link somewhere (a blog or news site for example) that they can use it like a URL to get updates of information within services like My Yahoo, Bloglines, or something called an RSS reader.
Murkiness and partial examples are the enemy here. Raising awareness and finding clear examples that fully express the potential and power of RSS should be the goal.
Here are some clear, canonical examples that I think convey the full scope of what RSS does for us in a Web 2.0 world:
RSS Use Cases
Notification: Need to inform a lot of people about changes to information? Don't want central control? Want to enable self-service? Use RSS.
Syndication: Publishing new information regularly? Put it into an RSS feed. This flows out to the world your blog entries, news articles, podcasts, videos, job posts, weather reports, financial updates, bug reports, etc. The software you use should be able to take your information and make it into an RSS feed. If your current software can't, find new software. It's that important.
Glue: Need to connect any service to another service on the Web (or anywhere else)? Trying to mash together data? Building supply chains? There is generally no need to ever ask anyone to stand up a new web service. Pull everything you need via its RSS feed. Some software developers will disagree with this and say there are better methods, but to this I point out: 1) RSS is robust enough that it's all you'll ever need nine times out of ten and 2) it's what you're going to offered automatically anyway, take it and get something done.
RSS creates the Web 2.0 information ecosystem by enabling interconnectedness, network effects, emergent behavior, and much more as well. And RSS doesn't demand control of the other end of the conversation. This is a big enabler all by itself and is a classic Web 2.0 force. By letting consumers of RSS use any tool or service they want on their side, barriers are eliminated and connectivity is encouraged.
That doesn't mean that RSS doesn't have its weaknesses either and certainly there are other ways to create feeds, but RSS has the mindshare, support, and the goods right now. So though it's not perfect, it's more than up to the job. Let's spread the word...
What did I miss? What other canonical examples are there?
Technorati: web2.0, rss
links: del.icio.us
RSS is undoubtedly an important first step on the path towards an
interconnected network of shared social services. However, I think that
everyone needs to step back from and take a hard look at it from a software
design perspective. RSS is not and, frankly, should not be the mechanism
to "tie" a Web of data together. There is no way to discern the structure,
or meaning of the data in RSS 2.0. Yes, there is more structure than a
simple text page. However, how do you know what the content contained
within a feed actually means? By the title? By the channel name? By the
item name? How do you know what an item name means relative to other
items? How do you put the data in context to be manipulated in a useful
manner? Where are the objects? For those of us that are data junkies and
subscribe to 100s of feeds, this is a serious problem. It is great that I
do not have to hope through websites to find information. But I still am
constrained by the same keyword search mechanisms that I find on the web.
Bottom line, although RSS is a good first step, there is a lot more to be
done. Keep hacking folks.
David,
