It is said that Dave Winer had a lot to do with the birth of Really Simple Syndication by fiddling with the XML file formats to push out headlines. Since its creation syndication has yet to be fully adopted and used by a majority of the online population yet is being used excessively by those tech savvy enough to grasp it. Rich Ziade made a post on Basement.org today (January 24, 2006) that does a great job aggregating RSS feed implementation examples to show how RSS can be used for more then just reading news headlines. Here are just a few more key examples that were left off the list but worth noting:
- Finding a job - Monster.com, Yahoo Hotjobs and SimplyHired.com all offer RSS feeds of job listings.
- Managing a Project with Basecamp - 37signals' Basecamp collaboration tool allows RSS feeds for projects within the online application.
- Finding an apartment - Apartments.com offers RSS feeds for customized result sets.
- Instant Messaging - A start-up called Sabifoo* offers RSS feeds of AOL Instant Messenger, Jabber or MSN Messenger conversations.
I just wonder what other creative implementations will pop up which harness the power and utility of syndication. The possibilities are virtually endless.
For more buzz on using RSS in more ways then one check out these posts from the blogosphere on MicroPersuasion, hexod.us and Educational Weblog and Michael Seville's Blog.
*Thanks to Webosphere for pointing me to Sabifoo.
