Via Luke Huttermans blog: on keeping RSS subscriptions synchronized.
A standard like this would not only allow you to for instance sync up different SharpReader instances on different PCs (say one at work and the other at home), but would also work across aggregators so you’d even be able to for instance sync up NetNewsWire at home with RSS Bandit at work.
My initial reaction is that the “right” solution is to use a web-based aggregator (any recommendations) but my own personal preference is for a client-side aggregator. In my case – Luke’s Sharpreader. To me, reading feeds feels more efficient and responsive when its done locally using a desktop app. They are asking for comments on their proposed standard SIAM
As I writr this, a thought went off. RSS, and other syndicated content, is in many ways similar to email. Back in the day, I use to get my email via POP and it’d be trapped on the PC where I downloaded it (unless I explicitly left it on the server). Nowadays, I use IMAP to read my email and it stays on one server where I can get to it from any computer. And with IMAP, I have the choice of many web-based or desktop based application to read my email.
A next-step could be an IMAP-like server and client apps for handling syndication feeds. From a number of viewpoints, this could have some important benefits. It could reduce the bandwidth used and frequency of polling subscriptions from within an organization. You could also do a lot of interesting matching and recommendation of feeds between users based on what they already read. Any takers?