$.02 on RSS

Hmm...my opinions about RSS. I'm sure I have some. Oh, yes.

RSS - some good, some...not.

I can see how they can be useful: having so many sites linked to just one would make it easier to get quick updates. Though, since you still have to click on individual feeds, as long as one has a fast computer and good Internet connection, I'm not sure how much time is really saved. If sites are loaded with annoying advertising and uneccessary graphics, this would definately be a good way to avoid that, but that's not so much a problem with the pages I generally visit. One of the things I particularly didn't like, though, was that while the feed shows you the most recent posts made to an individual blog or site, it doesn't show the number of comments, or provide a direct link to them, on the entry itself. To see those, you would have to go further - which would be the same if you just visited the site in question in the first place instead of logging into an RSS feeder.

For most, comments on entries may not be very important. For a blog I visit most, however, (whedonesque) it's one of the main reasons I visit the site.

In general - because it feels like I'm pretty disorganized in my thoughts here -I could see myself using RSS for news and general blogs, but for sites that I'm really interested in, I'll likely just visit the pages. It may take a few seconds more, but getting exactly what I want - in the format I want it in - is worth the extra time to me.