RSS 2.0 and Atom are to data what HTML was to content on the web. They are going to be the lingua franca we will use to consume virtually all data.

It’s not always about finding a simple solution to a complex problem, occasionally it’s about simplifying the problem. Whereas complex solutions are brittle and break, simple solutions just tend to work. HTML, HTTP, RSS and ATOM all fall in this category; simple solutions that have been widely adopted and work well.