Now that both Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox have chosen the new RSS icon (), I decided to go ahead and change the one on Furrygoat from the old-fashioned orange "XML" icon to the new ’standard’. The old one was getting to be soooo 2004.

I’m still convinced that the average user isn’t going to just get the concept of RSS - I don’t see my mom calling me up and saying "I was reading your RSS feed in my forth generation .NET aggregator, and I don’t agree with what you say about Windows Live being an ugly shade of orange…". How many "non-geek" people will see the new shiny RSS icon and just click it? Few, I believe.

The true success of RSS will really depend on how well applications can produce or consume RSS content in ways that the average end user never sees the letters "RSS". It’ll be about providing compelling experiences that make people’s lives easier - If my dad can get audio, videos or trailers downloaded to his PC without screwing up his codecs by using some decent non-techy software, he’s going to be a happy guy.

Prediction: In 2006, we’ll see Furrygoat’s Law go into mass overdrive. Every type of software imaginable will try to jam in some form of RSS support just to be part of the action. Some will succeed. Lots will fail. It’ll be interesting to see where we’re at in 12 months, but I bet my parents still have no clue what RSS is.

Finally, check out Feed Icons for a nice collection of shiny new ‘06 RSS icons.