Alex Barnett proposes that RSS is too new to be judged as a niche technology.

Don't write off RSS because it was invented 5 years ago and 'still' isn't at 'mass use'. If XML, IM and P2P (depending on how you define P2P) - are anything to go by (technologies that ride on the infrastructure that itself took decades to make prime time) RSS has another 3 years before it can be judged as 'having made it' or not.

However, his commenters are not really buying his comparisions to other technologies, like email, web browsers, and instant messaging. Rick Bruner, whose original post prompted Barnett's, replies:

As Olivier pointed out, IM was a lot farther along five years in than 1.4%, as was the Web browser. Also, you didn't have the platform in place for mass distribution of email for many years (i.e., PCs and ISPs were not widespread till the early '90s), and with mobile telephony you had a cost factor that doesn't exist with RSS. RSS has a lot more things going for it than some of your other examples: a mature distribution platform, loads of content, little or no cost.