It was about 10 years ago that I first heard about the World Wide Web from my brother Robert. I remember him going on about these things called web pages and how it was all very cool. I didn't have a clue what he was talking about and just shrugged it off. Needless to say that Robert is on the bleeding edge of software technology, which is probably why he is where he is today (that and his "geek" personal skills).
But he was right about the technology of the Internet that far back, it was cool and while it may not have revolutionized the world, it sure did change how we shop, work and interact with other people.
I have no idea how long he's been working with RSS, but it's been at least a year, maybe two or even longer. But within the last 18 months or so is when he really started to blog about how RSS and apps like NewsGator were changing the way he interacted with the web. As usual, I was like "yeah, yeah, whatever" and went on, until last Friday when I downloaded FeedReader (ya gotta love free apps, but that's a topic for another day). Already I can see how much better it is to read my favorite sites this way.
It's akin to how enterprise server products (like Symantec AntiVirus CE) changed the way we manage things piecemeal to administering and monitoring everything from a central location.
And already I am wishing that all web sites had RSS feeds, but unfortunately some of my favorites like Overclockers.com and Roger Ebert's website don't have a feed.
Anyhow, the point of all this rambling is how cool it is how far we've come in 10 years on the net. Still have a long way to go though on what is possible both technologically and societally.
I just wonder what my brother is going to find next that will capture my attention two years afterwards. Might have to wait another 10 years to find out, but it's out there somewhere.
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