I'm beginning to resign myself to the fact that the majority of Internet users aren't ever going to understand the point behind RSS, including most of the more savvy users. With articles like this flying around, and comments like these on Slashdot, it's clear that only a miniscule percentage of people get it and the majority are totally missing out.

I remember a time when it was mildly embarassing to say you used the Internet, as it was the reserve of the geek. The general populace didn't get the Web. Now, ten years later, everyone's using it. Perhaps it'll take another ten years before RSS-type technologies 'click' and almost everyone begins to use them properly.

The common argument goes like this: "What's the point of RSS when I can just visit Web sites and get my latest news?"

The problem is that using the Web browser fails beyond checking the most basic of sources, but if you want to remain knowledgeable about your niche, or get the bigger picture, it's necessary to check many tens of sources. I have about eighty or so sources in my RSS aggregator. Every day I run it up, and it grabs, generally, about 150 or so new articles from all the sources, and I rapidly scan through them, load up the ones I'm interested in, speed read the ones which are short, and absorb everything I want to know within five minutes. Who can visit eighty Web sites and work out what they hadn't read yet on each one within five minutes?

Using RSS properly is such a strategic advantage that it seems totally crazy to me that people don't use it properly. I know the second someone mentions this blog, or me, elsewhere on the Web.. I know everything of note that's happening in my niches the day it happens.. and I have a major information advantage. Why wouldn't everyone who needs to keep their eyes on the ball use this technology?