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“We removed the RSS feed since this technology became obsolete”

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Re: “We removed the RSS feed since this technology became obsolete”

#101

Post by smugglerFlynn »

RSS users aren’t seem to be concerned with the single most popular way content creators make money: by displaying ads.

While there are RSS-compatible solutions for that (like AdSense in-feed ads), it is obvious that there is not enough financial incentive for content creators and platforms to continue supporting RSS. From consumer perspective, I’m writing this from Safari on iPad, and there is no way to see that RSS is present on the page, neither there is a way to subscribe to RSS without special plugins. Which tells me demand on consumer side also does not justify keeping these features up.

The only reason RSS is alive today is because it’s dirt cheap to implement, and is supported out-of-the-box by most web development frameworks.

Re: “We removed the RSS feed since this technology became obsolete”

#102

Post by beagle3 »

eloeffler wrote: post #11

Is there a current and well functioning tool that pulls full articles from the links inside most RSS feeds that only publish teasers? When I first discovered RSS for me, I wanted news to read on the road. It was before Smartphones became ubiquitous. Unfortunately most news sites only published a few lines of text per article. Now, I would like to do the same when there is no network coverage. But I still don't know a…

NewsBlur does (for paying customers for sure; perhaps free users too)

Re: “We removed the RSS feed since this technology became obsolete”

#103

Post by katmannthree »

shockeychap wrote: post #83
DannyBee wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Y'all need to lean into the game a bit. Most of the time, things don't win or stay just because they are good. They win because of good marketing, etc. RSS, the brand, is a loser at this point. It is viewed as old, tired, and obsolete. It doesn't matter if it is the right tech. That's not a state you can grow from. At this point the right answer (IMHO) is to create a new thing that is very similar, but has a new bran…

I'm trying to figure out if this is serious or parody. You do know that RSS is a spec, not a brand, right? Right?

It's serious, the person you replied to is talking about how to revive a dying _thing_. Whether you want to call it a spec or a brand or a product does not really matter in this context, RSS has elements of all three. Their point is that trying to get people to change their minds on RSS is going to result in wasted effort, and that if you want RSS to live you need to market the hell out of a functionally equivalent replacement to the spec that appeals in some way to the relevant decision makers.

Re: “We removed the RSS feed since this technology became obsolete”

#104

Post by mfer »

grozzle wrote: post #92

The whole (non-Spotify, ugh) podcast ecosystem would like a word about RSS being obsolete. Patreon (and to a greater extent, the podcasters I support) keep making real money out of me and millions of others every month for personalised RSS feeds for content. That RSS feed is the delivery vehicle. It's very reliable, I can use it in any app, much good, so benefit, wow.

This is a great example of RSS being useful while almost no one realizes is. People have podcast players. There are podcasts. They subscribe to them. RSS is the technology behind the scenes that powers it which almost no one notices.

I bet that most podcast listeners don't know what RSS is or how it impacts their ability to listen to podcasts.

Podcasts also present a different problem from most news. People want to listen to a podcast and know about episodes. A platform can't easily come in and alter the flow of episodes coming without consumers noticing and being annoyed. This works for RSS.

With other news the aggregating platforms want to manipulate the flow of information for their benefit. If I look at my home in Twitter I might see posts from hours or days ago at the top. It's about engagement and they manipulate the order and display of posts to aide that. Their business model doesn't fit well with RSS as a backing technology.

Note, I can't stand the manipulation of my news feed. I just understand the business and other factors behind it.

Re: “We removed the RSS feed since this technology became obsolete”

#107

Post by api »

dethos wrote: post #86

That is a complete nonsense. RSS is one of the most useful tools for those that don't have "social media" accounts. Don't expect people to keep coming back to your website/blog just to check if there is new content/news. If it doesn't provide a feed (Atom or RSS), the most probable scenario is that I will not remember to comeback any time soon.

> RSS is one of the most useful tools for those that don't have "social media" accounts.

That's why RSS is dying. It doesn't facilitate in-depth surveillance or algorithmic timelines designed to be addictive... err I mean "maximize engagement." RSS is a user-friendly technology not an advertiser-friendly or surveillance-friendly technology and surveillance driven advertising is the business model of the Internet.

Re: “We removed the RSS feed since this technology became obsolete”

#108

Post by gpvos »

mfer wrote: post #104
grozzle wrote: post #92

The whole (non-Spotify, ugh) podcast ecosystem would like a word about RSS being obsolete. Patreon (and to a greater extent, the podcasters I support) keep making real money out of me and millions of others every month for personalised RSS feeds for content. That RSS feed is the delivery vehicle. It's very reliable, I can use it in any app, much good, so benefit, wow.

This is a great example of RSS being useful while almost no one realizes is. People have podcast players. There are podcasts. They subscribe to them. RSS is the technology behind the scenes that powers it which almost no one notices. I bet that most podcast listeners don't know what RSS is or how it impacts their ability to listen to podcasts. Podcasts also present a different problem from most news. People want to l…

I think there are lots of people who think RSS is only for podcasts.

Re: “We removed the RSS feed since this technology became obsolete”

#109

Post by soco »

mfer wrote: post #104
grozzle wrote: post #92

The whole (non-Spotify, ugh) podcast ecosystem would like a word about RSS being obsolete. Patreon (and to a greater extent, the podcasters I support) keep making real money out of me and millions of others every month for personalised RSS feeds for content. That RSS feed is the delivery vehicle. It's very reliable, I can use it in any app, much good, so benefit, wow.

This is a great example of RSS being useful while almost no one realizes is. People have podcast players. There are podcasts. They subscribe to them. RSS is the technology behind the scenes that powers it which almost no one notices. I bet that most podcast listeners don't know what RSS is or how it impacts their ability to listen to podcasts. Podcasts also present a different problem from most news. People want to l…

I read my news (yes including HN) on the Feedbro extension for Firefox, I wouldn't bother to go over most of newssites otherwise. 5/5 highly recommended.

Re: “We removed the RSS feed since this technology became obsolete”

#110

Post by gpvos »

mdp2021 wrote: post #35
belorn wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

RSS is replaced by personalized feeds that people see by logging into specific platforms and participate through the intended user engagement. That is how those companies earn money.

...Getting information through the lens of a virtual secretary which has a sub-animal intellectual size. Apart from all the social and intellectual implications, that is still not a replacement for information update pull.

Of course. Yet, that is what is happening.
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