Currently at Iterasi we are in beta with a brand new product. I have dropped hints about this for months now via posts here and ramblings on twitter. One element of this not-yet-released-so-I’m-not-gonna-describe-it-yet product is its integral use of RSS. The problem: I have had a lot of angst in counting on a technology that many non-tech savvy users see as pretty raw stuff.
Please do not take me wrong; I am a huge fan of RSS. However when I utter those three letters to the tech-challenged potential customer I often get a glazed response. I then proceed to show that, in fact, it’s called Real Simple Syndication for a reason; it really is simple. Still glazed. As previewing a new product with potential customers is critical – and one can’t ignore the feedback – this has bothered me for some time.
Maybe I am doing something wrong. Thoughts race through my mind. Maybe I should build some ‘wrapper’ in our product to ‘hide’ the complexities of those three letters? As the sleepless hours drag on, I envision some fancy UI that allows someone to just drop in a term or phrase and magically get the answer. With this magic, my customers won’t have to learn the mysteries of the scary RSS hobgoblin.
I was lamenting this situation with a trusted friend (whose identity shall remain secret) over IM:
Petegrillo: funny thing… I was feeling like we should have more ‘front end handholding’
Petegrillo: but in fact, the entire web runs on RSS
Mystery_friend: i think so
Petegrillo: so we would in effect limit our users abilities by obfuscating the power of all these RSS capabilities
Mystery_friend: i like that
Petegrillo: hey a good quote huh?
Mystery_friend: it is
(Sounds like the answers one would get from a therapist, huh?)
There is it. The elusive moment of clarity. I could spend tons of engineering energy to hide the power that RSS provides across the Open Web. Or I could let the Open Web work for me. RSS exists on most all news site/blogs, browsers, search engines, and on twitter as well. For more sophistcated applications Yahoo Pipes provides an extremely powerful tool set built around RSS. (One noteworthy exception to RSS acceptance is Facebook. They seem to dabble in RSS and then run away from it).
So now I get it. I am at peace. I will not try to hide the power of the Open Web. I will have to deal with some initial resistance with the belief that my customers will learn the power of RSS and find greater value in our product by working with the best tools available.
It’s a gamble. But I think it’s the right move for our customers.
pete
