All around smart-guy-pr-blogger Joseph Thornley wisely notes that with the release of Internet Explorer 7 the majority of web users will now start to see that little RSS icon.
With tonight’s release of Internet Explorer 7 the other 85% of the world is about to see that orange icon appear on their browser toolbar. And when they see it change from grey to orange, the clicking will start. And no one will care what RSS means. They’ll just be subscribing.Will we all see huge increases in RSS subscribers? Probably not right away. I assume that the users who are busy downloading/installing IE7 are the standard early-adopter crowd and probably already use RSS.
However, it will be interesting to watch/compare RSS subscription rates with the adoption curve of IE7. FeedBurner, did you get that?
Visitor Comments
Got it, Josh!
Posted by: Eric Lunt | October 19, 2006 10:38 AM
One of the most interesting aspects of the IE vs. Firefox battle is the development of the ecosystem of extensions or add-ons. Right now firefox had a great advantage in this space but you can see microsoft trying to catch up.
Microsoft has a interesting partner in Trailfire, a recommended download for IE7. See link:
http://www.ieaddons.com/SearchResults.aspx?keywords=trailfire
But this extension is also available for firefox. See link:
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/3524/
I think the ecosystem for firefox and IE will decide who wins this battle. What do you think?
Posted by: dr.happy | October 19, 2006 12:27 PM
I guess this is the part where I make fun of Windows users by stating they won't click on the button because they will be scared of a new--especially orange--button. But I won't do that.
Posted by: Chris Scott | October 19, 2006 1:36 PM
Great news, finaly frustrated IE users will be able to enjoy RSS. I wonder if Microsoft is trying to close the huge gap to Opera Browser.
Thank you for sharing this story with me !
Posted by: Marina making pictures | October 19, 2006 1:41 PM
You're right Josh. Until IE 7 is pushed on people and there is a lot of RSS-ducation of the majority of users, RSS subs aren't going to change much.
I think people are used to, and maybe even enjoy, the whole process of surfing and clicking.
Posted by: Tris Hussey | October 19, 2006 1:42 PM