RSS

Ok, I'm going out on a limb here, but Jerry Michalski complains that Radio doesn't have a mail list feature, yet his weblog doesn't have an RSS feed -- at least I couldn't find it.

[...]First, Weblogs offer only one distribution model: People have to come read your blog at its Web address. Why can't people read each entry as it is posted, if they would like to, as they can with e-mailed newsletters? It is somehow strange that Dave Winer's Radio Userland Weblogging software doesn't allow its users to do what Dave does every day with Scripting News, which is post to his broadcast list and his Weblog. (You can syndicate Weblogs with Radio and use XML for other nifty features, but it's not a mailing list.)
This weakness isn't that hard to fix. I've been an advisor to Pyra (the company behind Blogger) for some time, and Ev -- surviving considerable nagging from me -- has added a post-to-e-mail feature in Blogger Pro. Excellent.

In fact, I'm creating two lists for this one Weblog. The first list, Sociate, is a broadcast list for people who want to see new items quickly, but don't want the e-mail traffic of a discussion list; the second, Sociate-Talk, includes all the outbound posts of the first list, but is meant for people interested in the discussion. [...][Sociate]

He clearly knows about RSS, as he mentions weblog syndication, but he doesn't seem to understand RSS. (Yes, yes. For Pete's sake, I know I have no business telling Jerry Michalski what he does and doesn't understand.)

Jerry's right that Radio needs an e-mail list option. But he's got the reason wrong. I'd also like an e-mail option. Just because I prefer RSS doesn't lower the vast number of people who still use e-mail as their primary comm channel. There is no reason to force them into a new channel if they aren't ready. You don't get user adoption through force. Adding e-mail support is simply a matter of enabling as many readers as possible. This is especially important if weblogs are going to be widely used in corporate settings.

But Jerry really needs to get on the syndication bandwagon. Weblogs do not have a single distribution model. The syndication feature is one of the strongest attributes. I prefer to get my regular notices via RSS. I get them every hour, and that's close enough to as they happen for me. It's a different channel, but it fits perfectly within the mode of his "broadcast list". More importantly, by getting his posts in my Aggregator, I can scan them with other sources of info that are not limited to e-mail. That's what I want. RSS may not have reached the Tipping Point yet, but I'm sure I'm not alone.

So I've taken matters into my own hands. Jerry, here's your RSS feed. It's crude. I did it with Mark Paschal's Stapler, but I'm about as skilled as a three-year-old with a chainsaw -- and just about as dangerous. I could learn Swahili in less time than it would take me to learn regular expressions. But it's a start. You take it from here.

Update: Roland Tanglao writes:

Jerry Michalski' - There more to blogging than Radio and Blogger: Manila will send emails and bulletins!.
-Radio gets all the press! People forget that Manila is very powerful. Manila wil post each entry as it is posted to an email list (or any email addresses you specify) and its bulletin feature allows you to send email to every member who wishes to receive the email once a day or as often as you wish. [...] [Roland Tanglao's Weblog]

I should also mention Conversant, another Frontier-based product that supports numerous I/O options.