RSS feeds and syndication - an evergrowing world

I've been a fan of RSS (really simple syndication), but it keeps suprising even me with its wide variety of uses and applications.

RSS is a technology that enables content to be reused anywhere.  It can be totally rebranded and used in just about any context.  So it is perfect for news and blog content which is constantly updated.  For content consumers, it used to be about downloading and using a reader, but since just about everybody either has a blog or RSS support built into their favourite programs, it is more accessible than ever to people just like you and me. 

For example, I just recently took up Windows Vista.  I know, I'm supposed to be an early technology adopter.  I'd used it a handful of times and just found it really clunky and awkward.  Now that I have a new laptop computer, it has come pre-installed, so I figured I might as well just use it.  Anyway, I was quite suprised to see RSS feeds constantly updated directly on the desktop.  What a cool feature !  This is the sort of thing that has vindicated my passion for RSS.  You can configure them to read from any source, such as your favourite news sites and display your own personalised news ticker.  It took me a little while to work out, but now I have the latest technology news beamed directly to my Windows desktop.

Once I got into third party apps for my Facebook account I immediately started hunting around for a way to syndicate my blog posts so that friends could read them.   I tried a couple, like "MyRSS" and "SuperRSS" but most of them seemed to have issues with Facebook's caching engine which was very frustrating indeed.  Eventually I twigged onto a new application, "Simply RSS" which seems to work really well.  It supports multiple feeds, which is great.

On my Pocket PC phone, I use an application called RSS Sync, an offline RSS reader which enables me to read the latest industry news without having to stay connected or use expensive mobile data plans.

I have recently been working on a friend's website and one of the biggest things that impressed him was that he was able to display relevant news from around the world on his site, meaning that he can increase his Google results by serving up relevant content without having to create as much content himself.

And I was pleasantly suprised when several technology portals began displaying my E-Magination blog feeds, which has helped to spread the Datalink message.  Other webmasters are now beginning to see the benefits of this approach.

These are just some of the ways that RSS as a technology continues to change my life.  Let me know how it has changed yours, or ask me and I'll tell you how it could.