How to Read Blogs Using Free RSS Readers
Copyright © 2005 Rob Taylor , Worldwide
Rights Reserved
Megastep International
In my quest for true mobility I've explored
reading blogs using numerous different RSS readers. That's the
techie name for a blog reader.
If you prefer to watch my multimedia video tutorial
on how to set up and use a free blog reader, please go to:
http://www.megastep.com/videos/20050221/
Personally I use Bloglines to read all my blogs
or feeds as they are known. I like it because it's free, I can
access it from any computer in the world... yes even in Mongolia...
it's unbelievably easy to use, and has a refreshingly clean
interface.
I love minimalism and Bloglines appeals to me
on that front.
I've tested some paid RSS readers but unfortunately
they all suffer from the same problem... You need to download
them to your computer. Well not to put too fine a point on it,
my computer is already loaded up with so many "must-have"
tools that having to install more just doesn't do it for me,
not when I've been trying to de-clutter my old digital darling.
Plus in my quest for mobility and minimalism,
downloading anything these days makes me sigh. It seems everyone
wants you to download their toolbar or some other piece of kit.
You can just see the future can't you, your
viewable web browser window being 1"x1" and the rest
all those toolbars. And each toolbar has a pop-up blocker...
I mean man, how many do you need!?
But I digress... OK RSS readers... below is
a list of the various ones available...
A free, cool, simple, user friendly service
that you can access from any computer in the world. It also
has a notification tool you can download to your desktop.
The other useful feature is that Bloglines allows
you to set up your own blog. BL also has a great feature called
"Clippings", which allows you to clip an article while
you're reading your blogs and then retrieve it later on. You
can also dump your clippings into your blog.
OK not to get too ravved up over 'ole BL, there
is a downside as with anything that is web-based instead of
desktop-based, and that is... being web-based it does have less
features than say an RSS reader like Feed Demon. But personally
I can live with that, only time will tell.
I tried it, didn't like it, and got swamped
with all the features that it had, see the feature list at http://www.feeddemon.com/feeddemon/readme/readme15.asp
Less is more in my opinion. But then if you're
a serious geek, I suspect you won't mind paying to get your
hands on FD, becase it will be right up your street.
Back in 2004 Yahoo decided to integrate RSS
into My Yahoo, so if you have a free account with them, and
use it, this is a good option for reading your RSS feeds.
I've used Pluck for sometime now, they offer
a desk-top edition that only works with IE, and a web-based
version.
Although Pluck is also free and has some pretty
neat features I found that it took over my browser in a way
I didn't like. Too invasive. That being said one of the features
that I find invaluable is the ability to set up a "Perch".
A perch is a customized search. For example
I can enter in a keyword phrase and select eBay, then whenever
an item appears that matches my eBay perch I get notified in
the same way I would if I was reading my RSS feeds. Very nice,
and worth it just for this feature alone. Do the words "competitive
intelligence" mean anything to you?
The web-based version of Pluck is excellent.
A good, clean interface that rivals Bloglines for minimalism,
but unfortunately you can't create perches.
Before I finish here's a list of other RSS readers
you might want to take a look at: http://blogspace.com/rss/readers
Rob Taylor has been marketing online since 1996.
He's sold anything from books, debit cards, security products
to art prints. Take advantage of his battle tested marketing
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