3 ms·
RSS is odd. Unloved by many, killed by Google, but there's still no better way of getting notified that a rarely (or perhaps not so rarely if you have endless
by dave2000 10y ago
RSS is odd. Unloved by many, killed by Google, but there's still no better way of getting notified that a rarely (or perhaps not so rarely if you have endless time to read "internet stuff") updated site has something new to read. So I have an Android app which checks once per day and if there's anything new that day (I can go days or weeks without an update) I then pass it on to my Pocket account. Sometimes it goes another step further and I send it on to my Kindle.
Perhaps there's a better way of handling this. I can't read it directly on my Kindle because the browser there - optimistically described "experimental" - is shocking. Pocket is great because it does a good job of producing a page which consists of just the typing without the usual horrific web fluff (although sometimes it gets it wrong and the graphics go missing).
It seems a shame that, when most of what I'm interested in started life as someone else essentially entering text into a document, there's no way of obtaining it in that form but instead it has to be manipulated into something sensible. I don't want an "experience"; I just want to read what you've typed.
Would it help if I gave you my email address?
- exolymph 10y agoI think your last line is tongue-in-cheek, but it's actually my preferred approach. > still no better way of getting notified that a rarely (or perhaps not so rarely if you have endless time to read "internet stuff") updated site has something new to read. Maybe it's because I became a heavy web user after RSS was already on its way out (of the mainstream), but my favorite way to be notified is an email newsletter. I don't care very much about the frequency because I save everything to Instapaper anyway and read it weeks later.
- iMiiTH 10y agoIt would be fantastic if there was a standard format like you suggested, it would also make the web a whole lot more accessible.
- ktRolster 10y ago"Marc Andreessen" suggested something like that at the bottom of this: http://www.zerobugsandprogramfaster.net/essays/2.html http://www.zerobugsandprogramfaster.net/essays/2.html (search for "separate content from presentation")
- dave2000 10y agoI thought the whole point of css was to separate content from presentation. But it only seems to be used for reskinning sites and - occasionally - for producing a "printer view". I suppose I could pretend to be a printer. But can I not instead just pretend to want to read the text?
- wtbob 10y ago> It would be fantastic if there was a standard format like you suggested I thought that's what HTML was supposed to be … Somehow it turned into a portable runtime instead.
- wtbob 10y ago> I don't want an "experience"; I just want to read what you've typed. Exactly. That's why I prefer command-line browsers (and like reader mode): I just want to see words, not distraction.
- atom058 10y agoRegarding reading news on the Kindle: I've noticed that the browser becomes much more responsive (read: usable) if one disables JavaScript altogether. Sure, some websites will break, but most will work well enough to be able to read articles. Disabling JavaScript is also my trick for actually being able to browse the internet on a phone these days. In Firefox for Android, you can install a plugin to toggle it on/off for when you need it. A bit sad that you have to do this to get at decent experience, but what can you do...