I use TiVo alot - mostly to time-shift. I like my television content presented on my schedule. I also use TiVo to find and acquire lots of knowledge and entertainment; I use RSS newsreaders for exactly the same purpose. "RSS newsreaders are TiVo for bloggers...Newsreaders like NewzCrawler and Radio UserLand do TiVo things. Time shifting. Easier, more complete channel and program selection.Season pass for your favorite shows. Record in the background while playing in the foreground. Save a post to your blog instead of to your VCR." -- Phil Wolff Although bloggers get a tremendous benefit from this new medium, there is a much bigger audience with needs that stretch well beyond current RSS reader tools. TiVo made it possible for my Dad to use a VCR, although he still considers it "magic". I can easily find 30 different RSS readers, and they all seem to look and feel pretty much the same, although my Dad can't use any of them. "A pet peeve is everyone writing their own 3 paned aggregator...whats the originality in that?" -- Rajesh Jain So, while newsreaders are like TiVo, they're not nearly enough like TiVo. There is a huge market standing on the sidelines of RSS homecoming waiting for readers that really are like TiVo. I suspect there are a number of firms and small startups working on this problem; hopefully they're focusing on user interface and other services that will make it possible for everyone to find, organize, and consume Web content. Perhaps the future RiVo(?) will emerge from micro-content client makers (I've seen some pretty good ones). A few amazing RSS readers will eventually emerge in various customer segments like entertainment, journalism, and perhaps enterprise kLogs. But I think anyone that has written an RSS newsreader ought to consider rewriting to embrace an agility-based architecture. Newsreaders could be more flexible in terms of skins, brand-awareness, and presenting visually appealing UI's. Imagine an RSS "reader micro-client framework" designed to deliver a customized visual experience based on the feed that the user has selected. Furthermore, consider that the same transport mechanism (RSS) carries instructional payloads and other content (through name-space extensions) that controls the look, the behavior, and the presentation of the content. Lastly, consider that this "framework" is a very "smart machine" that transforms the channel [between provider and customer] from a monolog, to a dialog - thus allowing the customer to interact with the provider in visible (human ways), and non-visible (machine-driven) ways. Under the covers, TiVo is a magnificent CRM system that walks the fine line between a simple interface and a significant improvement in customer experience; and they achieve this while gathering lots of useful information that helps the customer as much as it guides the content providers to create better content. RSS readers are approaching a crossroads where they must transform themselves from largely commoditized utilities to smarter and much easier to use applications. | 
