Free Website Content
RSS Won The Syndication Standard Battle
RSS Won the Battle
RSS appears to have conquered the last hurtle in becoming
the industry syndication standard.
Microsoft's inclusion of RSS into the
newest version of Internet Explorer and reports that
RSS will be in Longhorn's coming release appears to
be the final nail in the coffin of the Atom specification.
Even Atom's steadfast supporter Google, appears to have
seen the light. Google had previously acquired Blogger,
a popular blogging tool that uses the Atom specification
to syndicate the contents of blogs created on the Blogger
platform. In the past Google had strategically steered
clear of endorsing the RSS specification hoping that
Atom, would take hold.
Google's recent new service that allows
web surfers to monitor Google News using either
RSS or Atom feeds, appears to be an acknowledgment that
perhaps in purchasing Blogger, they chose the wrong
specification.
The adoption of a syndication standard
was slowed by the struggle between Atom and RSS. Two
defined syndication standards vying for the number one
position. In an IT industry that clearly favors single
standard solutions, Atom supporters claimed added flexibility,
but RSS' wide sweeping support from heavy hitters like
Microsoft, Apple and Yahoo. Along with the popularity
surge of podcasting, which is based on the RSS 2.0 specification
appears to have sealed the fate of the future syndication
standard.
The history and relationship between RSS
and Atom is a sordid tale that has hindered the progress
of an online syndication standard. Now that the leader
has been defined their is little in the way of RSS'
growth. Businesses leery of becoming entwined in a standards
struggle are now embracing RSS as a communication channel.
It is clear that those who have lined
up behind RSS as the leading specification are the winners.
Oddly enough, while those entrenched in
the industry acknowledge the difficulties with a dual
standard, users rarely see a difference in feeds created
using the Atom and RSS standards. Most popular RSS readers
support reading feeds in both formats. Though the purpose
of RSS and Atom is the same, the specification itself
is very different, making it difficult and time consuming
for tool developers to move between the dual standard.
Now that Atom's attempt at replacing RSS
has fallen flat, the syndication arena will likely see
significant innovation and progress.
Large companies are taking advantage of
RSS' extendibility using namespaces adding needed tags.
Apple has done this with iTunes, Microsoft for ordered
lists, and Yahoo with MediaRSS. All use the same basic
RSS 2.0 format but supports defined RSS' future is bright
with many companies working proactively to unite a once
divided standard.
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com
software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds
and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for
FeedForDev http://www.feedfordev.com
an RSS component for developers. In addition Sharon
manages marketing for NotePage http://www.notepage.net
a wireless text messaging software company.
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