E-Media Tidbits

In a strange display of techno-turnabout, Forbes recently dismissed the entire concept of RSS webfeeds in a review of the new Industry Standard site. The reviewer wrote that the worst aspect of the site is that it "...lets you subscribe to RSS feeds, a complicated, XML-related way of reading news which doesn't serve much purpose here." Bear in mind that this comes from the same magazine which back in February published the prescient and prominent article "The Coming RSS Revolution."

I understand that individual writers and editors within a publication have diverse perspectives and opinions. However, that reviewer's comment reeks of basic ignorance -- not only of the growing role and uses of webfeeds (both RSS and Atom format) but also of the target audience of the Industry Standard. The Standard bills itself as offering "news and analysis for the internet economy." This means it's likely to attract a particularly tech-savvy audience that would prefer (if not demand) content announcements via webfeed. Indeed, if the Standard did not offer webfeeds, I would probably list it in my weblog's Feedless Hall of Shame for overlooking the basic needs of its target audience. (Ironically, in my posting yesterday about high-profile feedless corporate sites, I recommended the February Forbes article to my readers.) Many thanks to PRblog for forwarding the news of the unfortunate Forbes review.