Podcasts really aren't either. This is why podcatchers have languished in mediocrity for so long.
I think it's more because iTunes fucking smashed it out of the gate, on top of being the default program for some of the most popular music devices and phones in the world. Podcasts are doing better than ever, it's just that it's only geeks like us looking for alternatives to iTunes and the like.
I don't use RSS. I just go to the websites I care about. I know when things I like update. *Shrug*
I use it for news, because it's impractical to follow every news source I pull in, when most of them are on a 24 hour news cycle. Even Reddit and fark together can't match it for sheer volume and intake speed. Twitter? Don't make me fucking laugh.
RSS is dying. Outside of nerds, most people don't consciously use it.
Correct me if I'm completely wrong, but aren't 99% of people who read blogs subconsciously using RSS? Don't most sites use RSS for its organizational benefits and the fact that is can be utilized by a reader is just an added benefit? It's not like content sites need to exert a ton of energy to take advantage of RSS, it's a fundamental part of their structure (and the feed is just a practical by-product).
If you'd have dropped them without Google Reader, then they might not be important enough for you to keep reading. It's nice to have, but if it's something you honestly really strongly wanted to keep up with, you wouldn't need RSS.
And I wasn't trivializing, I was explaining why I had no use for it.
I'd argue that podcasts aren't dying, since they were never really alive. Podcasts have always been a niche thing. Now, individual podcasts definitely seem to have a limited lifespan. Seems most die after a few years.
I only use RSS for everything. News, webcomics, podcasts, anything that updates irregularly, you name it I probably have an RSS feed for it in my Google Reader. Except for NSFW stuff, I keep that locked in my lobes. Really, since the last time Firefox reset the stats I've checked my Reader over 13k times.
they're having some load issues right now, but it seems like the nicest alternative.
Which applies to every other alternative. So either all those alternatives have next to no capacity, or there's just that many Google Reader users looking out for alternatives, which makes the "lack of usage" argument highly suspect. Which shouldn't be surprising seeing how a bunch of the alternatives that I've seen suggested use Google Reader as back-end. Fuck the API abusers!
I only use RSS for everything. News, webcomics, podcasts, anything that updates irregularly, you name it I probably have an RSS feed for it in my Google Reader. Except for NSFW stuff, I keep that locked in my lobes.
That puts me to wondering - how many people use the social media share buttons on porn websites?
Companies don't bother with products that aren't popular, aren't profitable, or don't appear to have any growth potential.
Now I'm sure for many, Twitter and Facebook are reason enough to spend $1500 on slightly more convenient updates; but let's face it, the early adapters for Glass are mostly gonna be nerds who want their RSS on that thing. Sure, in the grand scheme of things, the couple of thousands Glass sales they lost isn't a huge deal, but it's still saying no to free money. I'm sure it more than would've made up for the cost of basic maintenance and bandwidth.
I just started using Google Reader a few months ago. I figured I'd been putting off RSS technology for far too long and it was time to join the cool kids and do something about it.
That's really sad.
I was surprised that I was actually using a website for it though. As a novice I was kind of expecting a stand alone program or browser app would be the primary way of accessing my RSS feeds.
How do you even use the Internet without RSS? It's so annoying without it. I remember someone linked a real nice gaming news website and I dropped that shit so fast because the RSS was shitty. For the longest time ever my Internet habit has basically consisted of checking my RSS feeds and checking forums.
I use Pulse on my Kindle and Currents on my phone. One thing I have noticed is that many of the RSS feeds I read have stopped including the full article.
let's face it, the early adapters for Glass are mostly gonna be nerds who want their RSS on that thing.
Glass would be a terrible platform for that. It's not something anyone's going to be reading large amounts of text on or watching significant video with. It's all about status updates, quick lookups, AV recording, and HUD data. Anyone who thinks they'll read slashdot or a blog on this thing is ridiculously wrong. ;^) It's a tiny, translucent screen.
As for RSS "dying," you guys are missing the bigger picture.
First, Google is killing this because it either isn't profitable or, in their eyes, never will be, and simultaneously isn't currently popular enough to warrant keeping around. Sure, you guys use it, but how many people actually use Google Reader, or a dedicated RSS reader in general?
Second, HMTKSteve hit the nail on the head:
One thing I have noticed is that many of the RSS feeds I read have stopped including the full article.
Sites that are ad-supported or paywall supported have a vested interest in not providing their full content via RSS, as this obviates any need for people to visit their site. Notice how even many webcomics don't actually embed their stips in their feeds?
RSS is a killer app if it actually includes the full content of whatever you're subscribed to. That is increasingly not the case, and there is no incentive for it to ever be the case again (at least for commercial or ad-supported content).
Third, where RSS is used, it is used "behind the scenes." Most people who do still listen to podcasts regularly don't even know what RSS is, or that it even exists. iTunes just give them their podcasts after they subscribe.
Dedicated RSS feed reader users are a small but vocal minority. There just isn't enough market for them to go beyond a niche.
Some sites have sponsored RSS feeds so the whole argument about not being able to monetize RSS is bullshit. It is actually impossible (short of hosting your own RSS intermediate server a la feedafever) to block RSS ads so you'd think that sites would be all over this shit.
Some sites have sponsored RSS feeds so the whole argument about not being able to monetize RSS is bullshit. It is actually impossible (short of hosting your own RSS intermediate server a la feedafever) to block RSS ads so you'd think that sites would be all over this shit.
Sponsored RSS is problematic for advertisers. It doesn't give the same level of data, and I'll suspect that the clickthrough rates are much lower.
Even Penny Arcade wouldn't include their strips in the RSS feeds, despite being able to do exactly what you suggest. There must be a difference in the ability to extract revenue between RSS-embedded ads and native site ads.
In general, having been working on the business side of things for a while now, I've learned one very important and specific thing.
If an industry can do something, but won't, there's always a reason. If there's a real profit to be made by bucking the trend, someone will.
So why don't more sites embed ads in their RSS feeds? Why do they insist on truncated content and linkback instead?
The thing is, even if the entire article isn't in an RSS feed, I don't care. It's a convenient way to follow the sites I like to read and to know when they are updated. It also tends to be lower bandwidth than just going to the site, skimming the headlines, and then determining if I actually want to read the full article or not. If it wasn't for RSS, I probably wouldn't really read anything on the 'net on a regular basis because it's too much of a pain in the ass to go hit things up manually. Part of it is I usually have so much crap going on in my mind that I can never remember all the favorite sites I like to read on a routine basis. RSS is at least a nice way to group my favorite sites together and track updates to them, etc.
Without an RSS reader, I'd probably only regularly read Google News. No more Penny Arcade, Anime News Network, Ars Technica, Polygon, Slashdot, etc.
I have no problem with any RSS reader not showing to the whole article or webcomic. I just want something conveniently store all the updates of the various things I like to read.
Also our podcast sucks. Especially since I won't be recording next week due to PAX, and stupid Jason has Fast Karate filling in for me. However, it just goes to show that it takes two awesome people to take my place.
(Yes. Must keep telling myself them to make me feel better.)
I used to use Google Reader. The reasons I stopped were fairly specific.
1. Too much duplicated content. My aggregators would post the same root content at different times, and I'd end up seeing a lot of duplicates. However, consolidating my subscriptions to avoid it meant missing the non-duplicated content.
2. Webcomic RSS tends not to include the actual comic, and is thus useless. I know the schedules of the webcomics a read, and just read them on their update days.
I guess part of the reason why I liked Google Reader is that I used it as an alternative to bookmarking all the sites I check routinely. I suppose I could just create a synced bookmark list of favorite sites and use that, but it just isn't as convenient as using Google Reader and having all the bookmarks, as well as the articles, or at least summaries/new post announcements, in one convenient location.
Comments
*Shrug*
Stuff like knobfeel, or Menswear Dog, I would not follow.
It's fine to say you don't have a use for that, but don't trivialize the use for others.
And I wasn't trivializing, I was explaining why I had no use for it.
Now, individual podcasts definitely seem to have a limited lifespan. Seems most die after a few years.
Also, apparently there's a petition that's already got a ton of signatures.
That's really sad.
I was surprised that I was actually using a website for it though. As a novice I was kind of expecting a stand alone program or browser app would be the primary way of accessing my RSS feeds.
As for RSS "dying," you guys are missing the bigger picture.
First, Google is killing this because it either isn't profitable or, in their eyes, never will be, and simultaneously isn't currently popular enough to warrant keeping around. Sure, you guys use it, but how many people actually use Google Reader, or a dedicated RSS reader in general?
Second, HMTKSteve hit the nail on the head: Sites that are ad-supported or paywall supported have a vested interest in not providing their full content via RSS, as this obviates any need for people to visit their site. Notice how even many webcomics don't actually embed their stips in their feeds?
RSS is a killer app if it actually includes the full content of whatever you're subscribed to. That is increasingly not the case, and there is no incentive for it to ever be the case again (at least for commercial or ad-supported content).
Third, where RSS is used, it is used "behind the scenes." Most people who do still listen to podcasts regularly don't even know what RSS is, or that it even exists. iTunes just give them their podcasts after they subscribe.
Dedicated RSS feed reader users are a small but vocal minority. There just isn't enough market for them to go beyond a niche.
Even Penny Arcade wouldn't include their strips in the RSS feeds, despite being able to do exactly what you suggest. There must be a difference in the ability to extract revenue between RSS-embedded ads and native site ads.
In general, having been working on the business side of things for a while now, I've learned one very important and specific thing.
If an industry can do something, but won't, there's always a reason. If there's a real profit to be made by bucking the trend, someone will.
So why don't more sites embed ads in their RSS feeds? Why do they insist on truncated content and linkback instead?
Pseudopod
Fast Karate for the Gentleman
NPR: It's All Politics
This American Life
That's it.
Without an RSS reader, I'd probably only regularly read Google News. No more Penny Arcade, Anime News Network, Ars Technica, Polygon, Slashdot, etc.
Also our podcast sucks. Especially since I won't be recording next week due to PAX, and stupid Jason has Fast Karate filling in for me. However, it just goes to show that it takes two awesome people to take my place.
(Yes. Must keep telling myself them to make me feel better.)
1. Too much duplicated content. My aggregators would post the same root content at different times, and I'd end up seeing a lot of duplicates. However, consolidating my subscriptions to avoid it meant missing the non-duplicated content.
2. Webcomic RSS tends not to include the actual comic, and is thus useless. I know the schedules of the webcomics a read, and just read them on their update days.