RSS - WTF is it for?

[Chewie]

I see RSS buttons all over the place now, and read a little piece on the BBC site that purported to explain it.
That article said I first need a reader - so I got Stardock's BlogNavigator (Download.com's users recommended it).

OK, I have the software installed and fired it up.
It shows me a tree down the left, with what appear to be links to web pages. The right side is split into two halves, the upper showing more detailed information (well, sort of..) and links to the same pages in the tree on the left; the bottom half loads web pages.

Right.
forgive me if I'm wrong, but can't I do this with Internet Explorer, Netscrape, Firefox, Opera and indeed any normal browser?

Someone please tell me the point of this RSS stuff, because I know I'm missing it entirely.
BTW, I've heard about blogs and am unimpressed that they are so popular. I am even less impressed that we appear to need a special program to find and view them.


So, to sum up:
WTF is RSS about, and why do I need a special program to view web pages I have bookmarked?
Blogs: what's so special about them? Why can't I just go to a web page to read it?

[tesco]

I also dont get the point, well I dont get the point in using news readers.

Only things with RSS that I find useful are:

1) Live bookmarks in Firefox (maybe some other browsers too)
and
2) The fact that they are XML which can be parsed by PHP to make dynamic web pages using the RSS content. (It's more lightweight than having PHP download the entire webpage in HTML (including images, css, etc.))

[lightshow]

I also tried and didn't like RSS newsreaders.

After using it for a few hours, and loading the news sites, I got tired at looking at the same program.

I prefer surfing to my newsites and reading them straight off the site.

If anything else, it keeps the visuals more intresting, since each news site looks different.

[Vargas]

i use rss feeds from bittorrent sites alot

maybe you just need a better reader or better feeds
RSS Bandit v1.3.0.38 was just released
http://rssbandit.sourceforge.net

[Filliz]

1) Live bookmarks in Firefox (maybe some other browsers too)

That's the only thing I use it for too.
For Nforce and VCDQuality for example.

Other than that I find it pretty much useless.

[RealitY]

Saves me some time...

[tree_for]

same here i only use e inbuilt thing in ffox for BBC news

[DorisInsinuate]

I use Bloglines.com to read my RSS feeds.

I find RSS feeds useful for reading news because it only shows me the news items I haven't read already, this means I don't miss anything and I don't read anything twice.

I don't see the point of blogs.

[kazaa2002]

HI Chewie, it is just a short list of items with a url associated with it.
a similiar preference would be , if you have 2 telephones on a desk,
one unit is a rotary dial and the 2nd unit is a push button. to save time
almost all will go for the push button as it is faster.
All About RSS || Fagan Finder

[Chewie]

Thanks for everyone's input, I see that neither RSS nor blogging are much of a leap forward.

That looks like a useful link, kazaa2002, so I've put in on my desktop to peruse when I have a little more time.