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Ask HN: Could we decentralize RSS using email?
Google Reader is dead, and new and old readers owned by companies are popping up all over. What we'd all like is something simple and free, but the processing needs of a centralized service require something commercially-backed.
I've thought a bit on how we can avoid another Reader situation and still keep things free and open, and I had an idea: email.
Storage
Yes, you'd still need a service still to poll your list of feeds (Yahoo Pipes, Zapier, or custom servers could work). These services would then send you a specifically formatted email for each new post.
The title could be the subject, the post as the message. Perhaps the Blog, date and post link would be the first line. Extra information could be set in "X-" headers or in a signature. We'd need a standardized method for formatting these emails so that RSS readers could plug and play.
Finally you'd need to set up some filtering to avoid spamming yourself, or use a separate email address altogether.
Reading
Ok so maybe that would decentralize the storage of the posts. And you'd get some niceties like searching built in with your email provider. At first I assumed a read email would equal a read feed, which could work. But this would require readers to be able to access your email to mark them read.
Another thought would be for the RSS readers to support a forwarding address. Forward your feed emails to them, and they display it to you. To mark them read (without needing your email password) could they just email you back something?
Thoughts?
- Concours 14y agoThat's a great approachand this is exactly what we are doing at http://www.feedsapi.org http://www.feedsapi.org , so you might want to check it out. It's however not free, I believe a free good service can not survive the market. We poll the sources every 60 minutes and deliver the articles as they come in , in realtime. At the email inbox level, Gmail offers all the features you've listed in the reading section and things like filters and labels make the organisation even easier. Would this be an option for what you are talking about ? Thoughts ?
- saurik 14y agoWhy not just NNTP?
- waxjar 14y agoWhat's needed is a system to sync state (read items, starred items, etc), preferably one that only you have access to. I propose a standard file format, implemented by RSS Readers that contains this kind of data. The file can be stored on a service like Dropbox. If implemented correctly, you'd never lose your data when switching clients and you'd be able to use different clients on different platforms with your own data.