Here’s what I think is essential for a corporate RSS reader:
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It must support individual authentication in order to access secured feeds. Preferably using a digital certificate to identify the user. This rules out all browser-based aggregators
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Most users will want to get started straight away and will not want to spend a long time managing their list of feeds. We need a way of managing centrally a user’s OPML file and adding a feed for them if they request it.
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We need the Read/Not Read status of the content to follow the user around, whether he is using his regular desktop machine, working from home on his laptop, or in an internet cafe using a server-based computing environment or a VPN.
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The consumption of new content needs to be efficient. My aggregator supports Space Bar single-key reading. I just hammer away at the Space Bar until I find a post I’m interested in. This enables me to consume a large number of feeds in a short amount of time. We will be accused of creating an UNproductivity tool unless we can demonstrate this!
These things are pretty important for this technology to get accepted in the corporate environment. For my own benefits I would also like to see a feed aggregator that has the following feature:
- Feeds are organised by tagging them, not by creating a hierarchical folder structure. Individual posts could also be tagged.