Good for Readers

So you can see that by using an RSS reader program, you can corral the information you want in one place, and read it much more easily. RSS readers typically check subscribed feeds approximately once an hour, so when an RSS feed is updated, your RSS reader notifies you. All you have to do is to let the highly filtered information come in.

RSS feeds are also called channels, like in broadcasting. So when you subscribe to an RSS feed, you're subscribing to a channel. And in the same way that you can select what channel to watch on television, you can select what channel to read using your RSS reader software.

Tip

You can republish RSS feeds if you want, as described in Chapter 9, "Converting RSS Feeds to Web Sites." Got a special topic you're very interested in? Health care? Industry statistics? Movie reviews? Hamsters? You can merge a number of feeds and automatically create your own Web page. Your Web page can display the items, and because your page is viewable in a browser, you can republish the feeds and make them available to anyone who browses your site. (Of course, you'll have to get permission first.)