Bill Gates on Blogs

Bill Gates on Blogs
AUGUST 21, 2005 permalink | Trackback (0)
Microsoft demos RSS features in IE 7
Microsoft demoed RSS features in IE 7 at the Blog Business Summit in San Francisco this weekend.
PC Magazine's InfoWorld reports:
Whether the content streams are eventually called RSS, Web feeds, or some other name, a key design goal of the forthcoming Internet Explorer 7 is to let users easily subscribe to blogs and Web sites via RSS (Really Simple Syndication).
The new version of the browser will include support for RSS, a technology that alerts users to new content posted to blogs and Web sites. The goal is to make subscription activities more mainstream by allowing users to add an RSS feed as easily as creating a Web page bookmark.
To subscribe to an RSS feed in IE 7, a user simply clicks on a subscribe button in a toolbar that runs across the top of the browser. Users can then see a preview of the feed and add it to a list of favorites.
Those following the blogosphere discussion may be aware of the controversy created by Microsoft's possible change of the name of RSS feeds to Web feeds. From Infoworld:
One attendee expressed concern that Microsoft may be trying to coop the terms of syndication or syndication technology in general.
Microsoft defended its use of the term, without saying definitely whether the name will stick in the final release of IE 7.
Everyone who understands the term RSS is at the bleeding edge, said Robert Scoble, evangelist on the Windows team at Microsoft. 'The other 97 percent don't really understand the term.'
'The issue with Web feeds versus RSS is that the public doesn't know what RSS is or what Atom is,' Scoble said.
'When you go to different sites it is listed as RSS or sometimes XML or Atom. When you use the term feeds or Web feeds it is easier for people to understand,' Scoble said."
Sounds good what Scoble says but fear is that Microsoft may try to monopolize a technology they are just coming to now. It's been done before.
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