RSS Gets into Wired – Wired Gets into RSS

Graphic by APAK

Yet another article explaining and extoling RSS, this one
by BoingBoing’s Cory Doctrow in the current issue of Wired
magazine.
Unfortunately, RSS is a perfect example of something which, like certain
Asian massage techniques, is almost impossible to explain
to
someone
who has
never seen it in action, but which almost everyone immediately gets when
they do.  For example, the following paragraph makes perfect sense
to anyone who knows their way around an aggregator, but will mystify
most readers who have never used one:

Shorthand for "rich site summary" or "really
simple syndication," depending on whom you ask, RSS lets publishers
use XML code to define the content of their Web sites, much the way
HTML
lets them determine the format in which content is displayed. With
RSS, visitors can access multiple sites without having to go to each
one.
You subscribe to the RSS feeds of sites you like, and voila: The content
comes to you by way of an aggregator, which sends headlines and links
to a browser or a downloadable news reader on your mobile device or
desktop.

Still, interesting and well-written, as we have come to
expect from the Doc.

from Wired