Simon Willison’s Weblog

The orange XML icon sucks

I’m not a fan of the orange XML icon, even though I use it on my categories page. I love the concept of a universally recognised icon for RSS feeds, but XML is simply the wrong acronym to put on it. Don’t think it’s liable to cause confusion? Check out this excerpt from Journalism.co.uk (emphasis mine):

The Guardian is planning to launch more XML-based services in the next few months, adding to the news feed services the site already provides to both commercial clients and individual readers.

XML, also known as RSS, is a method of streaming information from a website. Many sites now offer a free XML feed enabling readers to receive headlines from news sites via a desktop software program. XML also avoids problems involved with sending email newsletters, such as junk mail and out-of-date addresses.

Doh!