Two new Web 2.0 RSS readers recently crossed my radar. One, pictured above, is called Protopage. This is a free start page that you can customize with RSS news feeds, sticky notes and bookmarks. It's akin to Goowy, except that it's quicker since it does not require Flash. Another is etamp.net.
Both these sites demonstrate there's a lot of room for innovation in the RSS aggregation space. What they have in common is that they are built with Ajax (defined). This technology enables rapid reading because you can skim feeds without having to reload pages or frames (a Web 1.0 model).
Lately I feel like Newsgator and Bloglines - while innovative last year - are starting to fall way behind readers that are based on Ajax. Some of these - like Windows Live and Google Reader - are from the big boys. However, Ajax seems to be leveling the playing field, leaving room for sites like Netvibes to become popular. Thanks to the wonders of OPML, I have pretty much abandoned all Web 1.0 feed readers for Web 2.0 aggregators since they streamline my RSS reading. This is essential once you have hundreds of feeds.How about you?
