About RSS Feeds
1. Overview
2.
Tools needed to subscribe to an RSS feed
3. Recent
Browser
4.
Aggregator Website or Reader
5. Podcatching
Software
Overview
RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication and it opens up the world of
subscription on the Web. When a website has RSS feeds, you have the option
to subscribe to one or more of those feeds. This allows you to monitor
that website or certain pages on that site without having to visit it
every time. When the website has one or more series of audio or video
files available for subscription, those are usually called Podcast(s).
RSS feeds are part of a new model on the Web where you can customize
your surfing experience.
Tools needed to subscribe to an RSS feed
There are many ways of consuming an RSS feed:
1) With a recent browser
2) With an account on an aggregator website.
3) With dedicated Podcatching software
Any one of these approaches will allow you to subscribe to a Podcast.
Recent Browser
On a Windows machine, this basically means:
On a Mac, this means:
These browsers will understand the RSS feed and display it in a user-friendly
way.
Note: Microsoft Internet Explorer on a Mac does not support RSS feeds,
nor does it support much else anyway since it has not been updated for
many years and doesn't look like it is going to be updated anytime soon.
Aggregator Website or Reader
These websites consume RSS feeds. They are also known as NewsReaders
or even simply "Readers". You can customize such a page by choosing which
RSS feed you want to subscribe to. This includes any podcast feed. Some
of those aggregator websites offer an online player for you to listen
to (or maybe even view) any particular episodes of a podcast.
There are many more readers/newsreaders or aggregators available on
the DMOZ
Open Directory Project
Podcatching Software
This kind of software is specifically meant to "catch" podcasts. The
list of podcatching software includes, but is not limited to:
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