As we enter 2006, it’s about time we unite around a common feed icon. I’d already implemented it in K2, for the next release, and today I found this site which is promoting the use of a unified feed icon. Firefox started it, IE is onboard, it’s time for us to back up around it. Spread the joy.
Ah yes. 2005 was the year for ending world hunger via Live8. 2006 is the year for ending disparate feed icons :)
Just kidding, you’re quite right. Consistency is a virtue. Confusing and unusable technologies don’t get used.
Lucky for me I didn’t dedicate all of 2006 to it then :)
I decided to implement it in my upcoming redesign of Aelon, the day after Microsoft announced they would be using it too. Of course that was before I was aware of any hi-res versions, so I just ripped it straight out of Firefox.
I really hate this icon Mozilla created. Speciall the orange on it :-/
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Rock on :)
I guess feeds are going to be the first buzzword of ’06?
Yeah, I’m all for this. It makes much more sense – get the symbol right. That way it can be any colour.
Not just the orange (I swear I’m the only one that likes that colour).
Not more than a a few hours ago I was thinking I’m gonna need to find a high-res image of the feed icon for my next design, and then, as if by magic, the icons appeared!
It’s a Christmas miracle! :)
“… unusable technologies don’t get used.” -Small Paul
by definition :) it would be quite strange indeed for an unusable technology to get used.
I’m probably one of the few, but I like the Safari icon better. I know it’s way too simple and obvious, but for some reason I like it. Maybe it’s the fact that orange seems to be overused IMO.
However, I will gladly use the firefox icon if it will help keep a standard. It’s just too bad this is the one that’s gonna win out.
Not that I really need to be so sad about something that doesn’t really matter…
Matt did a great job with this project. I’ve incorporated them into my 2006 design.
Hate to be the one to say this, but its not that big a deal :)
You probably knew this but for FeedIcons.com is the project of a 9ruler, Matt Brett.
by definition :) it would be quite strange indeed for an unusable technology to get used.
And yet IE and Windows prosper ;)
Hate to be the one to say this, but its not that big a deal :)
For proliferating a relatively new format (entirely unknown to 99.9% of the web population), it’s quite a deal.
It resembles the Airport icon in Internet Connect too much. Actually, more than resembles. The color is exactly the same, you take the airport icon, rest it on its side and invert the orange and white, and you have basically the same thing. If it’s a feed, I’d like to see an artist’s rendering of a mouth or something. Not really.
whilst I think its a good idea (although the idea that 2 organisations can decide on a standard between themselves is maybe a tad dodgy) I dont really like the symbol itself. It IS very similar to the airport icon (which it seems out dates the feed one) and also (as its use in the airport icon would imply) looks like its broadcasting, which (somewhat pedantically I know) feeds dont.
it also looks a bit clunky to me, and whilst in these cases I think symbols are better than letters and numbers, I MUCH prefer the simple blue safari ‘RSS’.
So, Michael. Are you gonna change the icon you currently have on bb?
oh orange color, I hate orange.
So what is the consensus on changing the color to sit well with your design? On one hand we don’t want to confuse our (slower?) readers. On the other hand orange sometimes orange just doesn’t fit.
We can always work on unifying the newsfeed protocol standards—or agreeing upon which to use— after we have decided upon which icon to use.
I thought we already had… RSS 2.0.
Going through my daily feeds it is strikingly clear to me that only a majority has agreed that RSS is the lead and how to swing it… The same mob that decided Windows, VHS and the petrol engine were the way to go.
Thank Heavens above there are feedreaders that aren’t too picky about which formats to support :)
My attitude towards the syndication format wars is simple: Stop flinging poo and start syndicating. RSS 2.0 works, and it works well. I could really care less if Atom does things slightly better somehow or not; obviously RSS 2.0 gets the job done, since I’m subscribed to hundreds of feeds and they all work…
Syndication is taking off, with support in all the major browsers; now is not the time to stand around stepping on each others toes. They had their chance, RSS remained the defacto standard. They can try again in a few years.