Reading this comment by Dave gave me an idea for a cool feature that I’d like to see some desktop RSS aggregators like FeedDemon to adopt: remote access.
Desktop aggregators are great as they have a nice interface and can work independent of a web browser. But unlike web-based services like Bloglines, they’re not easy to use on the move – if you’re not using your machine then it can be difficult to keep track of what you’ve read. You could find an aggregator that fits on a USB keychain but if you’re in an internet cafe that won’t let you plug those in then you’re stuck.
Remote access, to some extent, solves this. It builds on a feature implemented in P2P clients like eMule and Shareaza, which allows you to administer the client via a web interface in addition to using the desktop interface. This works by the client including a small web server and opening a port on your computer which you can then access from other machines (providing your computer is switched on and has an active internet connection). So, say I have Shareaza running on this computer with remote access enabled – I can then go into university, find a computer, type in my laptop’s IP address and port number for Shareaza’s remote access feature into a web browser, and then login. Once there, I’d be able to see how my transfers were progressing and even do searches and start new transfers through my laptop. And when I got home, those transfers may well have finished. That’s all currently possible.
Now, imagine FeedDemon had this feature. I could go into university, find a computer, type in my laptop’s IP address and port number for FeedDemon’s remote access feature in a web browser, and then login. Once there, I could read the all the feeds I was subscribed to, update channels and add new feeds. And when I got home, the feeds I had read would show up as being read.
I don’t believe any aggregators support that yet but it would be an excellent feature to add, since it would combine the convinience of a desktop aggregator with the ability to read feeds anywhere that a web-based aggregator has.
I’ll Lazyweb this post, just so that it can attract attention.
