

Ask HN: Could we decentralize RSS using email? - nwienert

Google Reader is dead, and new and old readers owned by companies are popping up all over.  What we'd all like is something simple and free, but the processing needs of a centralized service require something commercially-backed.<p>I've thought a bit on how we can avoid another Reader situation and still keep things free and open, and I had an idea: email.<p><i>Storage</i><p>Yes, you'd still need a service still to poll your list of feeds (Yahoo Pipes, Zapier, or custom servers could work).  These services would then send you a specifically formatted email for each new post.<p>The title could be the subject, the post as the message.  Perhaps the Blog, date and post link would be the first line.  Extra information could be set in "X-" headers or in a signature.  We'd need a standardized method for formatting these emails so that RSS readers could plug and play.<p>Finally you'd need to set up some filtering to avoid spamming yourself, or use a separate email address altogether.<p><i>Reading</i><p>Ok so maybe that would decentralize the storage of the posts.  And you'd get some niceties like searching built in with your email provider.  At first I assumed a read email would equal a read feed, which could work.  But this would require readers to be able to access your email to mark them read.<p>Another thought would be for the RSS readers to support a forwarding address.  Forward your feed emails to them, and they display it to you.  To mark them read (without needing your email password) could they just email you back something?<p>Thoughts?
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Concours
That's a great approachand this is exactly what we are doing at
<http://www.feedsapi.org> , so you might want to check it out. It's however
not free, I believe a free good service can not survive the market. We poll
the sources every 60 minutes and deliver the articles as they come in , in
realtime. At the email inbox level, Gmail offers all the features you've
listed in the reading section and things like filters and labels make the
organisation even easier. Would this be an option for what you are talking
about ? Thoughts ?

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saurik
Why not just NNTP?

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waxjar
What's needed is a system to sync state (read items, starred items, etc),
preferably one that only you have access to. I propose a standard file format,
implemented by RSS Readers that contains this kind of data. The file can be
stored on a service like Dropbox. If implemented correctly, you'd never lose
your data when switching clients and you'd be able to use different clients on
different platforms with your own data.

