Mark Fletcher wrote:
I agree that having aggregated content in the inbox would be a nuiscance. Integrating into the mail reader and its folder structure does not rely on aggregated content being sent to the inbox. Newsgator/outlook works well because the aggregated content is off on the side, in another folder other than my inbox. I have an aggregated folder where all the feeds are archived. I simply click on the aggregated folder a couple times a day and see whats new. I mark the stuff read I don't want to see, and view the items of interest. Outlook allows me to configure as a single pane, two pane, or three pane view, sort or group by anything I want.I completely agree about client aggregators leaving a lot to be desired. That's why I created http://www.bloglines.com (just had to get the plug in there). ;-)Many content producers are not going syndicate their content with RSS, necho, etc. until the clients are in more widespread use. There just isn't the business case with current volumes. I feel aggregators must be integrated into corporate email clients (like MS Outlook) for widespread adoption at work, and into common mail readers like outlook express, mozilla, etc. at home. Sharpreader, syndirella, newsmonster , etc. are not headed for the mainstream, because they have yet-another-interface that behaves almost as good as a mail/nntp reader.Here's where I disagree with you. I don't want an aggregator in my mail reader. The spam/information overload problem with email is so great right now, the last thing I want is more things arriving in my inbox. I'd probably accidently delete half the feed items mistaking them for spam.
I'm not claiming 'death of email, footage at 11'. Yet. Also, and people may disagree with me, I think if aggregators become widely adopted, that the vast majority of users will not be active bloggers, mirroring the behavior of the Internet population at large. The aggregator will be a 'one-way/read-only' portal of information. That's different than email, with its iterative, read/write nature.Well, I see an aggregator a subset of na email or usenet client as opposed to "different"; the user doesn't have (or cannot) to respond to the items they get. In fact, a particular advantage of email integration is the ease in which an interesting rss item can be forwarded via email.
Thats right, the majority don't, and they won't because the clients are not good enough.Personally, I think there are a couple of other issues hampering aggregator adoption (if anything is hampering it, and I'm not sure). One is terminology. You say news feed, and I might think USENET. You say news aggregator, and as a normal user I might have no idea what you're talking about. And RSS is probably a meaningless acronym for most people. So terminology is confusing. Second is education. I bet the vast majority of people who could benefit from using an aggregator have no idea that they exist and don't fathom how they operate.
The education part, at least, I think is pretty normal for a new technology and will just take some time to work out. The terminology part, however, I think will take a little work (and it's not a skill I'm blessed with).Cheers, Mark -- Mark Fletcher Bloglines http://www.bloglines.comYour use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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