Jason Silver

Tuesday, May 16th, 2006

Geek Factor

I had a really interesting conversation recently with a friend about some web sites I've designed in the past-- I thought it was worth blogging about, mostly so I don't forget, and partially so I can hear from what other people think. Please comment, whoever you are. :)

He thought the site in question had too many RSS feeds. Fascinating. I didn't think there was such a thing! And he thought there wasn't much need for a pocket version of the site.

Actually, I can see his point. He said that most people have no clue about RSS, aren't using it, don't want to start, and it just complicates things. And come on, who really wants to visit a web site on a pocket pc? I think I agree with that last part, anyway. The screens are just way too small, so content is usually diminished. And most web sites haven't adjusted for screen size variances, so it just gets irritating.

It brings up the age-old question of audience. Who am I designing web sites for? In this example, there are many different people who visit and use this site, from various backgrounds, education levels, even language abilities.

I tend to create an RSS feed for just about anything I program anymore. Almost every script I design has some way of reporting its content back to any user interested in subscribing to it. But who really cares?

Tell me what you think. Do you like RSS feeds? Do you know what they are? Do you use them? If so, how do you use them?

Come on, comment.  :-)

Thanks!
~Jason