FeedHenry

In this Attensa post a problem outlined by a Zimbra blog post is answered with; we will handle everything, don’t worry.

Zimbra says:

What you really want to avoid is a potpourri of clients all handing RSS/Atom feeds differently (each well in its own right but chaotic when viewed as a collection of feed services).

Attensa replies:

Our reader line-up includes a full featured Windows desktop reader and Outlook reader, a reader for Sametime Instant Messaging for alerts and time sensitive collaborative feeds and a Web reader integrated with the Attensa Feed Server. They all use the same architecture to facilitate “knowledge flow.”

I think this is the wrong answer, though understandable as it is driven by business development and the entrenched server market.

What happens if I am on a platform or device that Attensa does not have a client for? I’ll have to use a client that is supported on the platform and probably doesn’t tie into the Attensa system.

Even if more clients start using the Attensa or NewsGator APIs these are closed and proprietary. Attensa and NewsGator will be in control and can change plans at anytime.

We need, at the least, a standard synchronisation system. What have I read from what feeds. Any RSS aggregation system needs to then expose that in a standard way. We also need live OPML so my subscriptions are kept in synch.