RSS

From Isopedia

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a group of Web feed formats, usually XML(eXtensible Markup Language)-based, that is used for providing users with frequently updated content. This content is often composed of blogs, news headlines, and podcasts that are included on a user's favorite web pages, but it is not limited to anything that can be broken down into discrete items. This desired content is added to the user's personal page, known as a "reader," and the RSS system keeps the user up to date with it in an automated manner.

Contents

History

The beginnings of RSS can be traced back to Userland Software and a man named Dave Winer. In December 1997, Winer developed a website called Scripting News for Userland, which allowed information on his website to be updated every time he edited a personal outline. Scripting news uses the XML format and is an early form of RSS systems. Other websites then began using this <scriptingNews> format.

The RSS 0.90 version, developed by Netscape in March 1999, was created for use on their website, My.Netscape.com. Netscape was looking for way to add up-to-date news articles and information from other sites onto their page. They used RDF in the header, but the rest of the program was in XML format.

The RSS 0.91 system, also developed by Netscape and written by Dan Libby, was very similar to the Scripting News format. It was created in July 1999 and the RDF header from the 0.90 version was removed, leaving the whole program in XML format. This new version was adopted by Userland Software in the same month.

At this time, Netscape dropped RSS systems and stopped development. It was no longer a necessary for their business.

The RSS 1.0 version was developed in August 2000 by Rael Dornfest O’Reily. RSS 1.0 encompasses an entirely new format than anything that has been used before, although it does go back to the RDF header. RSS 1.0 cause much confusion because it operated very differently than the 0.90 series.

The RSS 0.92 version was an expansion of the 0.91 version and was developed by Userland Software in December of 2000. It had new features that RSS 0.91 did not have.

The RSS 0.93 version was discussed by Userland but never created.

In September 2002, Dave Winer came out with the new RSS 2.0 program based on RSS 0.92, with the objective of reducing the confusion that RSS 1.0 caused. This version was similar to the 0.90 versions. While being developed, RSS 2 was referred to as 0.94.

How it Works

RSS uses different modules to allow automated updates to occur on websites that feature news (WSJ.com, NYTIMES.com, etc.), podcasts (ESPN.com, Itunes, etc.), and personal blogs.

Instead of the traditional, slow way of receiving new information on the web (going to the specific website manually), RSS creates a separate document, known as a "channel" or "feed," which contains either a summary or full text article. In the new, fast way, the RSS "feed" is added by the user to software known as an "RSS reader," "feed reader," or an "aggregator" in a process called subscription. The RSS reader is simply the users homepage where he or she receives all the blogs and news links that are being transported due to updates in the information.

In subsribing, there are two types of pages that a user can find to create a link on his or her reader. The first type is one with the direct link to the type of software contained in the specific reader, such as Google or Yahoo. With one click on the link, the feed is added to the reader site. The other type is a RSS document with a long page of text. In this case, the user must copy the URL (containing the specific code), go to the reader, and add the subscription in the designated space.

News messages are updated to the feed either frequently or infrequently, depending on the director of the reader, the type of feed used, and the type of webpaged the reader comes from. Messages are made up of three parts: a title, a summary and a message body. The title and the summary are added directly to the XML file while the message body is an HTML file that is referenced in the entry.

In addition, some users have started to use Individualized RSS, in which they can customize their RSS feed to give them updates on the specific information they desire. This differs from tradtional Rss, where everyone subscribes to the same feed and they all get the same messages.

Developments in RSS

Since its original development, RSS has become a useful tool to be used with other programs. As Andrew Grumet of Harvard Law explains, "RSS and BitTorrent complement each other naturally. RSS was designed to report freshly available content, which is exactly where BitTorrent shines. RSS enclosures were designed to automate the download process that BitTorrent optimizes." For example, BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer filesharing communications protocol, works as an RSS enclosure. When a user downloads a file, they must click and wait for it to download depending on the file's size. With BitTorrent and RSS, these transfers can be completed at a much greater speed. When the RSS system comes in contact with an enclosure, the program makes note that a download is available. Later, when it checks the notes, the downloads can be completed overnight so that the items are available to the user the next morning.

Firms in the Market

The market for RSS reading software is maturing and becoming a lot less fragmented. RSS itself though is essentially a service and firms can use this service to help their companies in many ways. There at the companies that are using RSS on their own website, such as the New York Times, in order to have all the latest information available for their customers to see. There are also companies that use RSS to track websites of their own choosing to stay updated on. For these companies, this latest information will help them perform their jobs better. Other large companies using RSS on their websites are Yahoo! News, Wall Street Journal and BBC News.

Customer Profile

Companies that use RSS are those that wish to save time searching around for updates on websites and looking for the latest information. It is free and can be useful to those who need to know the newest information at all times and even to those who want to just check the updates once a day. RSS is typically used for seeing updates in people’s blogs, podcasts, videos, news headlines and weather alerts. Many companies use RSS in order to have everyone at the company up-to-date on issues that they think is important for their employees to know.

Other companies, such as The New York Times online, use RSS in order to improve the services that they are offering. The New York Times online is a news website that uses RSS to have the most up-to-date news available for its customers. The content on their web page is frequently being updated and their customers can choose certain topics to always stay informed of updates about.

Substitute Products

RSS in and of its self is not so much a product, as it is a means of transferring the desired information from the RSS feed to the subscribed user. In other words, Really Simple Syndication is a means of distributing information rather than a product in and of itself. There are other options for performing such operations, such as a recently developed means to receive similar syndications is called ATOM Syndication.

Comparison Between Syndication Methods

RSS is considered the first of these forms of Syndication, going back to 1995; ATOM was designed much later, in 2003. Each of these formats can be used to pull information such as headlines or articles relating to the specific information desired. Such as searching several sites for recently published articles on a desired subject matter.

The Future of RSS and its alternatives

With the ability to create your own RSS feeds currently available through service providers such as Yahoo and Google; this format will be something that increases in popularity over the coming years. The ability to target the media you read is a very desirable, time saving feature and one that will be seen over more sites for information in the future. As there have been further developments to the idea of Internet syndication through the development of ATOM; it’s likely that there will be more to come in the future.

References

Team Members

  • Frank Pizzo
  • Jeff Litell
  • Ashley Doran
  • Aimee Schumaker
  • Alison Connolly
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