Friday [1]

1.  Feeds, RSS, that sort of thing

There are three parties in this - host Google Blogger, the admin [me], and the readers, in order of provision.  

It’s clearly in Google’s interests to restructure and cut out dissemination of views such as mine via subscribers’ emails, which can be fraught, security-wise for a start [infected emails], plus politically.  In short, they want a say on which opinions go out.  We can see that in bad terms for us but in their eyes, they’re providing the free service, they set the rules as long as we use those services.  We have the option of going elsewhere … or staying.

From the admin/pundit’s point of view - well, you know, it really depends on the pundit.  Think about which Blogspot blogs you visit in your rounds - it’s not a bad surmise that these small Blogspot bloggers wish to increase traffic, if possible exponentially and new commercial services on offer promise that. They also promise the reader secure feeds from anyone’s blog which a reader might wish to have on his/her list.

After July, if you take up one of these from the sidebar, as DR says - you’re compromising your details.  The pundit cannot stop readers from employing a Reader service, which allows the savvy reader to compile a bloglist for themselves and most pundits would not wish to block this, even were it possible for them to do so.

There’s an added problem and that’s that the basic plan of these new commercial subscriber services offer around five feeds max.  That means the reader only receives up to five feeds, it’s not unlimited - unlimited you pay for.

In whose interests is it to pay the admittedly miniscule amount per feed received?  Obviously a moneybags organisation monitoring people’s blogs for action on them.  Many readers are hostile, don’t forget, they’re keeping an eye on “haters”.

Were I to put a commercial feeder’s button in the sidebar, what exactly am I offering?  Not a lot, particularly because this blog is not interested in traffic, a strange attitude until you analyse why.  But reader security is a high priority, along with pundit security.

As the end of July arrives, the net will be full of these firms, tech journals will review the issue of Blogger - in short, there’ll be no shortage of material about.

Thus, at this moment, I’m not offering a commercial feeder.  To be reviewed some months from now.