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Email vs. RSS (continued)
I first posted on this topic in October 2003 as I was starting to blog.
I posted again in the middle of last year.
And once more in the fall of last year.
I can save you the trouble on clicking on all those links. I have been saying that RSS is too hard for the average person and that email is still the best way to get your content delivered to your customers, readers, etc.
I bring this up because many of the comments and blog linkbacks on this AOL/Goodmail issue have been saying that it's time to kill email for commercial uses and turn to RSS.
Steve Rubel says:
Bye Bye Email Marketing, Hello RSS
Tris Hussey says in his "end of cost-effective email marketing" post.
As the Yahoo and AOL plans move forward, and expect other companies to follow suit, and more "premium" RSS feeds appearing to replace the traditional e-mail newsletter.
Polarman says in his "email gives way to RSS" post:
Fred, please change the business models from email to RSS. It's time Email gives way to RSS. Everything that a email delivered service can do should be done by RSS.
And Steve Gillmor really hammers it home in his "who do you trust" post:
RSS got another big boost today when portals-in-the-headlights AOL and Yahoo? decided they wanted to scrape some vig off of the email stream.
Well I wish I was in charge of the business models on the Internet, but I am not. And as much as I'd like to see RSS replace email, it's just not going to happen overnight. RSS has to become brain dead simple to use.
When the soccer moms, myspace kids, construction workers, and grandmothers can use RSS, commercial email will give way to RSS. Because RSS is a lot better.
But I suspect we've got a ways to go before RSS is truly mainstream. But it seems like AOL introducing a paid stamps mechanism into the email business model is getting people thinking about a way around that and RSS would be a damn good one.
February 5, 2006 in Venture Capital and Technology | Permalink
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Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Email vs. RSS (continued):
» RSS is too hard from Polarman
Fred Wilson says on A VC that RSS is too hard. He's right. Every year will make it easier. Will this be the year? Who knows. But I won't be investing in email delivery systems. I'd be curious as to [Read More]
Tracked on Feb 5, 2006 11:30:35 AM
» More Bridges, Fewer Roads from Trial By Fire
Today, Fred Wilson brought up the Email vs. RSS discussion again. Fred's perspective is different than that of most technologists. He sees the wider potential. The problem is that most people building the technologies get far too caught up in [Read More]
Tracked on Feb 5, 2006 5:51:15 PM
» Reads, Not Feeds from /Message
Dave Winer is poking at an important issue -- How RSS can bust through -- building on Fred Wilson's statement that "RSS has to become brain-dead simple to use." Fred was writing about RSS as a replacement for many sorts [Read More]
Tracked on Feb 6, 2006 10:09:07 AM
» Why RSS has not supplanted email... from BlogWrite for CEOs
Fred Wilson nails it. Because RSS still isn't brain dead simple. For non-geeks it's still too confusing to set up an RSS newsreader, to subscribe to a feed, etc. The RSS vs. email discussion erupted again in response to the [Read More]
Tracked on Feb 6, 2006 11:43:59 PM
» Why RSS has not supplanted email... from BlogWrite for CEOs
Fred Wilson nails it. Because RSS still isn't brain dead simple. For non-geeks it's still too confusing to set up an RSS newsreader, to find - or aggregate - all the feeds you're interested in, to subscribe, etc. The RSS [Read More]
Tracked on Feb 6, 2006 11:52:44 PM
» Why RSS doesn't catch on: Confession of a technophobic tech writer from Blogspotting
A tech writer confesses that he only uses tech that's dunce-proof: an explanation of why RSS isn't mainstream. [Read More]
Tracked on Feb 7, 2006 8:40:10 AM
» Why is RSS taking so long to reach big time mainstream adoption? from Matt McAlister
A lot of blame can be placed on the tools providers. The business models have some headroom befo... [Read More]
Tracked on Feb 8, 2006 12:45:12 PM
» Why RSS has not supplanted email... from BlogWrite for CEOs
Fred Wilson nails it. Because RSS still isn't brain dead simple. For non-geeks it's still too confusing to set up an RSS newsreader, to find - or aggregate - all the feeds you're interested in, to subscribe, etc. The RSS [Read More]
Tracked on Feb 10, 2006 3:50:07 PM
» FeedBurner and FeedBlitz from Filipino Librarian
As this blog's numbers show, email still trumps RSS. See the following for more info on the current discussion on why RSS isn't catching on:
* Email vs. RSS
* Why RSS has not supplanted email...
* Why RSS doesn't catch on [Read More]
Tracked on Feb 11, 2006 1:25:45 AM
» Pay to email, my take from Tom Markiewicz
With AOL and Yahoo potentially charging to guarantee email delivery, I suspect RSS will get more serious consideration from marketers. And how can it not? If this email deal holds up (from what Ive read its not finalized), costs will sky... [Read More]
Tracked on Feb 14, 2006 4:06:42 PM
» RSS and the Intranet from IntranetMadeSimple
I tend to forget that most people do not follow the bleeding edge, or even the leading edge. RSS is a great example. [Read More]
Tracked on Feb 15, 2006 9:42:15 AM
» Attention, Reading Lists, RSS, etc, etc from Preoccupations
Attention continues to get my attention. David Sifry, in his recent update on the blogosphere and its staggering growth, says: We track about 1.2 Million posts each day, which means that there are about 50,000 posts each hour. At that [Read More]
Tracked on Feb 15, 2006 2:07:17 PM
» The Choice Between Email and RSS ? from Enclick Blog
A subject of discussion among the early adopters. The debate is increasingly heated. The conservative faction insists the problems of spam and unnecessary email can be reduced through common sense; Ready for the rebirth of email? - Information World Re... [Read More]
Tracked on May 19, 2006 7:23:55 PM
Comments
Windows Vista should give RSS a boost, having it built in. However, it'll take compelling content to drive soccer moms, myspace kids, construction workers, and grandmothers to RSS.
Compelling content they can't get anywhere else.
Posted by: Richard Cunningham | Feb 5, 2006 12:14:16 PM
One of my co-workers forwarded me this post.
This is what Community Server (www.communityserver.org) does. It's a collaborative platform with forums, blogs, file sharing, and so on but most importantly it allows you to access the data in any number of ways: web, email, rss, and NNTP.
Microsoft's intentions with Office 12 and the built-in RSS support will go a long way to pushing up the hill of the tipping point for mass RSS adoption -- for most people the most common application they use is Email. The more that can be done to allow people to bring content to them via RSS or email, the better.
People get email, explaining RSS isn't quite as easy. Another great example: I live on a BlackBerry. I don't care how the data gets to my BlackBerry as long as it gets there. Email is still best for that.
Personally as a software vendor it thrills me to hear that potential competitors are going to try to force their customers into a specific path - as for us, we'll let the customers choose, and then continue to build services around how they want to use the software (and not how we *think* they should).
Rob
Posted by: Rob Howard | Feb 5, 2006 2:56:39 PM
Fred - Richard makes a great point in his comment above. RSS is an additional way to access content and rarely the only way to get to the content. That's the Achille's heel for RSS, that many, many people stil prefer to get their content in the browser.
Posted by: TDavid | Feb 5, 2006 3:07:33 PM
Email is also highly convenient. Not that RSS isn't even more so, but the practice of reading one's email is just a normal part of the day for many people. It is convenient to deliever your content in a way that is in the stream of their daily consumtion.
Email is the primary mechanism by which we publish content to our readers. RSS is an afterthought, and RSS is published (by custom database routine I might add) after the email issue goes out to readers. We publish a dedicated feedback survey, and everyone loves email best. I got a comment that someone said: "great feeds," but that same respondent also marked they are an email subscriber.
Best regards,
-detlev johnson
SearchReturn
(old-school discussion list)
Posted by: Detlev Johnson | Feb 5, 2006 3:54:42 PM
The key to successful RSS take-up by the masses involves something I call "building a technology bridge". What's needed is a way that people already comfortable with a concept (such as email) can become RSS users without any awareness of how or why it's happened, then gradually migrate their thinking into the new world based upon positive motivations.
I'm not talking about email gateways such as those feedburner provides. Rather, I am talking about concepts such as an email *identity* bridge. A way to caplitalize on a broadly known concept (your email identity) to cross the bridge into better subscription content with a new reader interface other than the outdated and unmanagable inbox technology. The new reader interface can be something so simple as a consumer-oriented web service, or can attempt careful integration with email. The details aren't as important as the concept and the "low viscosity" of the solution.
As an example, we manage highly successful mailing lists for entertainment companies like Warner. One thing that is obvious to me is that people understand "their email address". We go to great trouble to protect their addresses, and keep the lists clean and perfect. That's why people use our service.
If there were a way to link people's email identity (NOT their inboxes) to RSS feeds, that would be an adoption bridge.
Let's say one of our clients sent out a regular mail to their consumer mailing list saying "Get more news about your favorite artists using our new blah-blah-blah feed". I know from experience that about 20-30% of the people on these types of lists would try it. Further, assume that the "bridge technology" were a bit smarter than email, not so vulnerable to spam, and provided obviously increased utility.
This is just an example.
Trying to "create new RSS tools" to make things easier will only go so far. RSS is an abstract concept which does not reveal its benefits easily to consumers. Without a bridge technology, it increases the time to adoption immeasurably. Consider how powerful CDs were as a bridge technology for taking consumers into the digital music world. Was it planned that way? Probably not. So, look at an RSS-to-email-identity bridge in a similar fashion.
Building such bridge technologies is hard, and the hardest part is that software builders (more than other engineering disciplines) have a very difficult time relating to the masses, and understanding that sometimes "less is more". Too many RSS tools are evolving UPWARD rather than DOWNWARD. So, doing something like this requires mass market vision. Hard to come by in the online world.
Posted by: Gary Wisniewski | Feb 5, 2006 4:35:30 PM
I agree with this article. RSS is not ready for mainstream adoption as it is. But, do we really care how we're getting our information - private or public - anyway? Whack content on my screen and make it easy to get the info I want. Don't even tell me how you're doing it just put it there!
E.g. Do you care how your snail mail is delivered? The route it took, the method of delivery? I don't. Just give me my mail in a cost effective way, and asap.
It's an ideal situation and would require a shift in paradigm but we'll get there eventually I hope :)
Posted by: Alex Pooley | Feb 5, 2006 10:10:39 PM
Totally agree.
I've just talked to one of our biggest Business Divisions within our organisation about RSS and the advantages.
Selling the concept to them was easy, you can gather all your news sources together in one place to read daily, and be told when there are new articles rather than search for them. You can even be told when there are new articles listed on searches of the entire web.
They loved it. Then came the demonstration of how to setup an aggregator and add feeds.
"Do I have to get my email to confirm my new account?" was the first negative response. Then I showed them how to find and add a feed from a website they already visited. Then how to subscribe to a search. Then search blog directories for articles. Then...well already there were shuffles of discontent and distraction.
I doubt they will be using the aggregator come the end of the week.
Unless it's easier for them to find and add feeds then they won't take it on. The feeds need to be transparent. If only we had Opera or Firefox in the workplace!
Posted by: Richard Brunton | Feb 8, 2006 6:12:12 AM
Email vs. RSS you talk about markting , but what about using this for any email :: no more spam :)
Posted by: bill | Feb 21, 2006 8:16:24 PM
I've taken the first few steps toward the RSS replacement of email with FeedMail Now! (http://www.feedmailnow.com). Granted, its a little rough around the edges, but I believe I'm getting closer to the bridge that will allow the mainstream to embrace RSS.
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