There is something I have read online in a bunch of places, and it just doesn’t sit right with me.

RSS is a push technology.

I don’t get how that works. Coupling RSS feeds with my favorite RSS Aggregator, I get a more efficient way to see what is new in the world, and to quickly visit my “daily checks”.

My site has an RSS Feed too.

Again, I just don’t understand how RSS is a push technology. My site’s feed sits there until someone’s aggregator asks for it. Muddylaces.ca is not pushing it’s feed to anyone’s computer.

On the flip side, my aggregator doesn’t just accept random RSS Feeds. I subscribe to a feed, set the schedule I want it to poll the RSS Feed, and select the notification options when new content is ready. Nothing pushy there.

Someone please explain to me how RSS and its related technology is push related?

To me my aggregator is another tool for surfing the web. My web browser is used to browse web pages, my email client does the email thing, my IM client handles instant messages, and my aggregator aggregates RSS. What am I missing here? Let’s just call RSS what it really is: another form of content.