RSS BoF

Some possible captions for this picture from the RSS Birds of a Feather at WWDC...

“Won’t they be surprised when I pick up this chair and start swinging.”

“Am I the only one in vertical stripes?”

“No, no—the other side is my good side.”

“I actually am taller than everybody—if they sit down while I stand.”

“RSS TV? That’s interesti... wait, did I just see a bird out the window?”

Yes, that’s me on the right, the vertical-striped. Also visible, back to front: François Nonnenmacher, Steven Frank, and Mike Piatek-Jimenez.

Speaking of RSS TV... one of the topics at the BoF was the possibility that, in the future, syndication won’t be mainly about text. Text will be replaced by audio and video.

I didn’t say it, but I remember thinking, that if this happens then we’ll have to create something new that’s mostly text-based. The thing is, I like syndication because I love to read, and it’s the only way I can get enough new stuff to read quickly enough. Video is way too slow. Text is exactly as fast as your brain.

Of course we still plan to add support for enclosures and so on in NetNewsWire. I’m not anti-video. I’m just saying that if RSS becomes mostly audio/video and little or no text then it’s time to come up with something new that emphasizes text.