Internet Access: The Writer's Tools To Being Read. Forum rss feed?

I'm pretty smart on a computer I guess but I still don't understand the rss feed. What is it? why do I want it? Do I want it? Will it bring more traffic to my website? WTF?

Any help on this would be appreciated.
Thanks
Steve Z

I will explain this weekend. ::drool::

"RSS is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts. An RSS document, which is called a "feed," "web feed," or "channel," contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with their favorite web sites in an automated manner that's easier than checking them manually.

RSS content can be read using software called a "feed reader" or an "aggregator." The user subscribes to a feed by entering the feed's link into the reader or by clicking an RSS icon in a browser that initiates the subscription process. The reader checks the user's subscribed feeds regularly for new content, downloading any updates that it finds.

The initials "RSS" are used to refer to the following formats:

Really Simple Syndication (RSS 2.0)
RDF Site Summary (RSS 1.0 and RSS 0.90)
Rich Site Summary (RSS 0.91)
RSS formats are specified using XML, a generic specification for the creation of data formats."






The famous Feedburner.com was just purchased by Google:



Here are some examples of RSS Feed subscription buttons that you can use on your blog or website:



that you can find here:



If you do not have RSS already built into your blog or want to RSS information on your own website, take a look at this:

That explanation helps a little...lol So if my site has the orange RSS thing all I have to do is click on it?

Thanks
Steve Z