RSS dulls the pain of the modern web • The Register
Posted by jpluimers on 2026/03/16
Apparently people are fed up enough that finally El Reg published an article like [Wayback/Archive] RSS dulls the pain of the modern web • The Register.
So I wrote this [Wayback/Archive] Post by @wiert.bsky.social — Bluesky
I have been consuming the majority of web content through RSS for at least 15 plus years now, and The Register explains exactly why:
the web has become unbearable to consume. Not just because of ads and their risks, but especially because every web site has a different user experience.
Before 2013, I used Google Reader, but Google has the habit of killing products, so now I use Feedly.
These are some prior blog posts I wrote on them:
- Google Reader stops at 2013-07-01: How can I download my Reader data? (via: Reader Help)
- Google Reader alternatives: did you make a choice yet?
- A few notes on Google Reader replacements that I’m testing
- Is there a Google Reader replacement that keeps ALL Google Reader history?
- knowledge worker tip: adding a Google Group to #Feedly using one of its RSS feeds
El Reg linked newer posts by others:
- [Wayback/Archive] The View From RSS by Caroline Crampton has this introduction:
I read a lot on the web. I almost never look at websites, though. I consume almost everything through an RSS reader. As AI reshapes the way online information is organised and consumed, it increasingly feels like I’m behind the scenes, watching the performance from the wings rather than seeing it from the front as intended. I thought I’d tell you why I do this and what it looks like.
…
- [Wayback/Archive] Pluralistic: The web is bearable with RSS (07 Mar 2026) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow which – after a nice historic overview – continues with mainly pro’s like
It’s almost impossible to overstate how superior RSS is to the median web page. Imagine if the newsletters you followed were rendered with black, clear type on a plain white background (rather than the sadistically infinitesimal, greyed-out type that designers favor thanks to the unkillable urban legend that black type on a white screen causes eye-strain). Imagine reading the web without popups, without ads, without nag screens. Imagine reading the web without interruptors or “keep reading” links.
after which he continues with a lot of tips and links to tooling.
Cory’s site is way more visually overloading. Caroline’s site is much calmer and has some nice use of typography.
--jeroen
The Wiert Corner - irregular stream of stuff 
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