Don’t forget RSS

I am still a fan of RSS. I do understand that some would see this as cause for labelling me one of those who cannot move ahead. I continue this commitment as a purposeful reaction against relying on the trendy recommendations that appear in Twitter, Google+ and Facebook. Recognizing trends is important for the work I do, but I want to remain grounded in solid content I rely on from a range of individuals I have identified and respect.

RSS is a little more complicated than following a social media feed, but worth the commitment. I use several RSS feeds (again as a way to keep up with the options), but my favorite as Feedly. Feedly allows the organization of feeds into categories which I find useful. It also provides ways to “share” content to other services. For me, moving content from one service to another is important. When I find something I think is important, I want to do something with this information – save it for more careful reading, sent it to someone else, etc.

I have one major beef with Feedly. It is the same beef I have with several services I use. I am willing to pay for most of the services I use. My general complaint is that the difference between the free version and the lowest tier paid version is often too great. The difference between free and $60+ a year seems pretty large for what you get with the paid version.

The one thing I miss out on using the free version is the opportunity to send content I want to keep track of to Evernote. I would pay something for this capability, but not $60. There is an easy work around. I can share to a browser and then use the browser to share to Evernote.  I suppose Feedly does not see a benefit in a lower-priced option, but I think they are missing out on a substantial number of users who like the product and would fund the company at a lower cost and a reduced set of features that are unlikely to be used.