I love RSS. It’s a relatively simple concept (RSS actually stands for Really Simple Syndication) and it allows people to turn their websites into a feed of updates using XML in its raw form or with Atom. The reason I said that it was relatively simple is because there’s always someone claiming that it’s dead or inadquate or JSON is better (I agree but XML still works well enough) and that’s before we talk about RSS readers, which is what this post is really—simply—about.
There’s been some buzz around a new RSS reader called Current by Terry Godier. He wrote a really cool-looking blog post about it and where the inspiration came from. He said that he felt guilt after leaving his reader after a few days and realised that most readers look and behaviour like email inboxes with the unread count constantly looking if you don’t clear it. Current doesn’t have all those numbers, instead having a “river” of articles for you to traverse at your own leisure (hence the name, Current).
Water, water everywhere
I like that idea a lot and I think Terry has made a great product with Current but it made me think of how my experience with RSS readers is completely different. I use Inoreader and currently have a pro subscription as it was on offer. I follow less than 100 feeds and check my feed a few times a day but sometimes I won’t check it at all over a weekend, particularly when I’m looking after my son. That’ll mean coming back to tens of unread articles and honestly, I love that prospect. It means I can sift through them all and see if there’s anything good.
I don’t feel overwhelmed or guilty about leaving them and that’s likely because I know I won’t read all of them. The issue with following feeds as a whole is the more you follow, the less you’ll read. That sounds like I need to follow less but that would mean losing out on publications I actually like. For example, I follow Hackaday’s feed and most of their articles go over my head but there are a few that I’m interested in and I’ll read them and check out the cool projects people work on (and the annoying commenters who think that all projects are superfluous unless they made them).
Riding the currents on my own raft
So am I underthinking RSS feeds? Is everyone locked in while I’m not? Should I strip it all down to my most-read feeds? Of course not. This is my experience. I’m paying for it after all and I like that level of interactivity. If anything, I want more feeds but it’s hard finding the right ones. I don’t mind the faster flow even if I’m not going to catch all the waves. But when I do, I’m ready to surf or save them for later reading. I think if you feel like Terry and want to assauge that guilt with a better reading experience, Current will be perfect. But for those considering Current as a new generalised way to read RSS feeds that everyone should be doing, I don’t think that’s it.
This also reminded me of a similar feeling I’ve had with video games. On Distant Arcade, I wrote about how I view my backlog in response to some articles about leaving games when you stop enjoying them and not making it a chore. I have a massive backlog but I like seeing all those games on the list and tending to them because it makes me feel closer to the art of organising games AND playing them (since last year, I’ve completed 29 games at the time of writing). The number doesn’t intimidate me and I don’t feel bad for not bringing the backlog down. It’s just a number, just like the unread count.
The articles will be there when I get to them (unless the writer deletes them but that’s out of my control). The count just reminds me how many moments I have available to me when I’m ready to experience them.