RSS: How Did (Do) We Live Without It?

The series of events:

• My news aggregator tells me that Dave’s site has a new post (several actually). My aggregator is web-based, and automatically refreshes the page to alert me of new posts.
• He mentions that Harvard is holding a Internet law conference this May. The cost is $2000 but bloggers who have an interest in Internet law (me) may apply for a fee-waiver (scholorship).
• I send in an email, crossing my fingers.

The odds of this happening a few years ago would have been slim. Everything would have hinged on browsing Dave’s site just as the post went up, so that I might notice it sitting at the top of the page. The ineffiencies of the past are staggering.

And it doesn’t stop with blogs. Why isn’t Amazon.com offer a feed for new products (maybe by category)? How great would it be to know (immediately) when a new cell phone or MP3 player is being offered for sale? How can these features not exists already?

Update: Here is a way to obtain RSS feeds for Amazon products sorted by sales rank or date. [onfocus.com].