Is RSS Google's main competitor?

If RSS is getting face-time at the expense of search, Google has something to worry about. And it makes sense. From personal experience, I know my daily routine to keep up with the information overload doesn’t really involve searching anymore, but subscribing. Thanks to services like del.icio.us, Technorati and Digg.com, people are spending a lot less time actively searching and more time passively reading what’s being updated in their readers.

I think what they’re [Google] afraid of is the rise of applications that seem to be tracking importance and trends better than search. In the race to find what deserves face-time, services like del.icio.us, Technorati and Digg.com in combination with the rapid adoption of web apps like bloglines, newsgator, feedster and kinja are making Google’s search seem very, very slow. And it’s all being accomplished with RSS technology.

Here is the longer and very interesting discussion.  I have long resisted RSS feeds.  I like the visual feel of a well-designed blog, I like to see how one post follows another, and I also track new blogs by seeing when people add to their blogrolls.  By doing things "by hand," I feel I am in closer touch with the blogosphere, and obtain what Michael Polanyi called greater tacit knowledge.  I will let you know when I switch to RSS, but I predict it won't be soon.

Thanks to the ever-useful Chris F. Masse for the pointer.