Are you still reading blogs? Do you still use an RSS readers such as Bloglines or Google Reader? Or do you get most of your blog fix from Twitter?

Many of us who have embraced Twitter have discovered that we spend less time on Google Reader, et al because the people we follow on Twitter are providing enough interesting links to a variety of content, including blogs.

On TechCrunchIT, Steve Gillmor argues “RSS doesn’t cut it anymore” and that “RSS is a shell of its former self, casually subsumed as the transport for 140+ content into the social stream”.

For people who spend a lot of time online, RSS has lost some of its appeal for the following reasons:

1. This demographic consumes a lot of information so the prospect of combing through an ever-growing number of blogs within an increasingly-neglected RSS reader can be daunting.

2. Since these people are so time-strapped, they are constantly looking for ways to prioritize/filter the blogs they do read. This explains why Twitter has emerged as a consumption tool because it, in theory, you only see the links provided by people you trust (aka follow)

Of course, it is important to recognize that people such as Steve Gillmor (and myself, for that matter) aren’t representative of the online community. We – and most Twitter users – consume a lot of information, and looking for new, cool tools to consume it. We’re also fickle, gravitating to new, shiny tools before abandoning them when they move into the mainstream.

While Gillmor’s thesis probably rings true with the digerati, it is premature to blow off RSS as a dead or dying concept. In many ways, RSS is evolving to serve the needs of people better. Waterloo, Ont.-based PostRank is an example of a company putting a new twist on RSS with a service to filter and prioritize the most interesting blogs.

Links: Some more thoughts on how we’re consuming content comes from WebWorkerDaily’s Eric Berlin.

Technorati Tags: blogs, RSS

There seems to be an awful lot of excitement these days about NetBooks – small (miniaturized?) notebook computers that provide users with enough power and features to surf the Web, check e-mail, do word processing, edit photos, etc.

I’m personally not in the market for a new laptop but if a computer maker was looking to seize a market niche, it would be interesting to see someone create a BlogBook – a notebook designed and aimed at bloggers.

It would come with Firefox pre-installed with some cool plugins (e.g. Zemanta), a blog publishing tool (Microsoft Live Writer), a user-friendly photo-editing tool, a publishing tool such as Digsby, perhaps a FTP client, and a 30-day free account for Boingo.

The BlogBook would be the perfect computing companion for people who wants a lightweight, powerful machine to blog/do social media on the go.

So, what do you think? Would there be enough of a market to make a BlogBook viable?

Update: Walter Mossberg has a story on how the NetBook is coming into its own. Maybe some smart NetBook maker will let people order customized versions to meet their needs be it blogging, Web surfing, e-mail, photography, travel. David Zatz has jumped on the NetBook bandwagon by buying a My Wind that will serve two purposes: a mobile blogging platform and portable video player.

Technorati Tags: blogs

For all the excitement about WordPress 2.5 with its pretty new design, WordPress didn’t change all that much for me.

The layout was different, the design (provided by hot-shot consulting firm, Happy Cog) was a lot more user-friendly but WordPress continued to be WordPress. By that, I didn’t do much with it other than install a few plugins – after getting used to the new widget system. Most important, I continued to ignore WordPress’ publishing tool; using Ecto as my publishing tool.

But judging by what I saw yesterday at WordCamp Toronto, that could all change with WordPress 2.7, which Matt Mullenweg announced will be released next month. In particular, the dashboard and the writing tool are going to be overhauled in a major way that I think are going to be a lot more interesting and exciting than WordPress 2.5.

This most noticeable change in 2.7 will be the navigation bar being moved to the left-hand side of the page. Within the writing tool, there will be drag-and-drog functionality so you can configureit how you want, and the ability to collapse widgets to create a lot more writing room). It will also be easier to add media – photos, images, videos.

When Mullenweg provided an overview yesterday at WordCamp Toronto, the reaction from the audience was extremely positive – sort of like the kids being told the candy store was going to be selling bigger and better chocolate bars.

For me, WordPress 2.7 could be an Ecto-killer. Ecto is a great way to write and manage multiple blogs but it’s pretty no-frills, and there’s little way to pimp it with plug-ins. It is, however, a user-friendly tool, particularly the ability to insert and size images.

That said, WordPress 2.7 is taking major leaps forward in usability, although I’d like to see the gallery become even more-user friendly. When the new WordPress comes out next month, I’m looking forward to using it to write posts.

As from the 2.7′s bells and whistles, Mullenweg said Automattic is working on making upgrades easier to implement. Over time, the goal will be to put the upgrade functionality into the core so WordPress upgrades – which are slated to happen every three months – will work much like how Firefox does now.

For the curious, here are the WordPress 2.7 wireframes. You can also get a really good overview by checking weblog tools collection.

More: WordCamp Toronto was really good – a good mix of speakers, lots of new and interesting ideas, and an enthusiastic audience. In terms of constructive criticism, the venue was a long way from downtown Toronto, and it probably should have been a one-day event with two tracks rather than two days.

Update: Here’s a video featuring Mullenweg talking about the state of WordPress.

Technorati Tags: blogs, WordPress