Microsoft Want to rename RSS ‘Web Feeds’

Everton | Aug 17, 2005 | Comments


Kevin Burton reports that Microsoft are looking at new names for RSS. At the moment they are calling them “web feeds” but they are open to other suggestions.

For once I think Microsoft are doing the right thing, even though the techies are up in arms about what they see as another example of Microsoft meddling. The average user doesn’t understand what RSS means and what it can actually do for them. In a recent survey Nielson found that 66% of people don’t know what RSS is and only 11% of people use RSS feeds. Forrester Research also found that only 2% of Americans use RSS feeds and Pew Internet found that 91% of Americans had no idea of what RSS was.

I have to confess that when I was first told about RSS I thought it was just for site owners to include links from other sites on their pages, not as a browsing tool. You only have to look at the effort the BBC have put into explaining what RSS is to realise how hard it is to sell to the average punter.

It hurts me to say this but I have to take my hat off to Microsoft again, as again they turning useful products into something that is accessible to the masses.


Read Related Posts

  1. How Many Feeds Do You Read? Here Are My Top 10 Feeds How Many Feeds Do You Read? Here Are My Top 10 Feeds
  2. Google Desktop - How Does it Select What Feeds To Cover? Google Desktop – How Does it Select What Feeds To Cover?
  3. I Hate Full RSS Feeds I Hate Full RSS Feeds
  4. Feed Overload - I've Read 11,130 Posts From 114 Feeds Over The Last 30 Days Feed Overload – I’ve Read 11,130 Posts From 114 Feeds Over The Last 30 Days
  5. Add Microsoft Translator Widget To Your Site Add Microsoft Translator Widget To Your Site



««
»»

Latest Posts

Filed Under: Internet News

Tags: • •

About the Author: Everton is based in London and has worked in the internet and mobile space for over ten years now, and before that worked in corporate strategy and consulting. He has a degree in Economics from Cambridge University.He also writes for Windows 7 News, Windows 8 News and One Tip A Day.

  • Anonymous
    But RSS is used for far more than simply delivering headlines;internal office communication, content delivery, LAN system communication.
    This is just another example of M$ attempting to reappropriate an idea to fit their intentions as opposed to allowing standards to prevail.
    This is marketing for them. Yes you may have to explain what RSS means for the time being, however not too long ago one had to do the same for the Internet, or DSL or 401k. Concepts enter the collective lexicon through entrenchment, not repurposing.
    -Thom
  • Anonymous
    URL? ISP? HTTP? LAN? HTML? DSL? P2P?
  • Anonymous
    Yes, why not lets rename it Simple content for Simple Minds. Instead of a EU having to educate themselves....
  • Anonymous
    I don't understand why those who know, can't teach those who don't. We are constantly seeing things change to make them more marketable. When I was young radio station were known by their call letters. WABC, WXYZ etc.
    Now they are starting to call them Mike or Frank. If people aren't picking up on something new then someone isn't doing enough to explain it.
  • Anonymous
    Why not call this what it orginally was? A Channel. Remember IE4 ?
    Offline reading of a website/blog/show notes and download the attachments/podcast/mp3
  • Anonymous
    "RSS" is a bit too geeky for most to make an impression. Apple should have hit this one first, instead of going on with the RSS bandwagon.
  • Anonymous
    M$ renames RSS, feeds suddenly fill with advertising and loose their appeal...
  • Anonymous
    I agree that the name of RSS should be changed. I really think in the near future RSS will be all over the place, doing all sorts of task - many of which we haven't even begun to think of yet. However, I think that the techology will be "invisible." People won't really realize or know or care that RSS is providing this or that; it just will. I'd venture to say that there's a small group of people who already use RSS without really knowing it. I've read stories about test groups reporting that they didn't know what blogs were, yet were just watched reading blogs. Same principle.
    All that aside, I'M NOT SURE I WANT MS TO COME UP WITH THE NEW NAME. See: "Vista", "XP", the use of the word "explorer" to mean multiple apps, etc.
  • Anonymous
    Great writeup on this topic. I have tried on numerous occassions to explain what RSS is to family and coworkers and it always ends with the person I'm explaining to having a dazed expression and a reply of "huh." To really get across what this technology is and what it can do for the average user, a new descriptor is definitely needed.
  • Anonymous
    By trying to change established terms, it seems very likely Microsoft are once again trying to "Embrace & Extend" an existing technology - the way they did with Java - to add Microsoft specific functionality. They want to own it.
    The RSS format is stable, recognized, and established. It doesn't need Microsoft to extend it.
    This is like Microsoft coming up and saying: we're changing our name for the CD to "Optical Disk" because we think that is more descriptive of the technology, and we'll be extending it. And by the way, future versions will only work with Microsoft supplied drivers.
blog comments powered by Disqus