The question of whether Echo will succeed in replacing RSS seems to be on many bloggers' mind just now.  Scoble thinks Echo has no chance.  Many people on the Echo supporters list think otherwise.  I put my name on that list as well, but I don't think the chance of Echo replacing RSS is very good.

RSS is far more than just a spec as Scoble explained, but engineers tend to focus only on technical side of things so it is no wonder most Echo supporters don't see it that way.  Just looking at the process of picking a name shows clearly how naive most of them are.  I meant naive in a good way so I hope they don't take this comment as an insult.

Although I don't think there is an optimistic future for Echo, I signed up as a supporter because, as I wrote before, I think it is a Good Thing.  There has been pent-up energies among developers that demanded something like Echo.  I don't mean Echo the spec.  I mean Echo the project.  Echo project is a good outlet for all that creative energy which could be destructive and chaotic if applied wrongly.  In my opinion, funky RSS was an example how destructive and chaotic creative energy can be.

I am happy that the funky RSS storm seems to have passed for the most part and creative energy has been released toward more constructive path via the Echo project.  Just as I think Dave is trying to Do The Right Thing, I believe everyone working on Echo are trying to Do The Right Thing.  Even if Echo the spec end up a dud, I think the effort is worth doing and was inevitable in one form or another.

History will happen as it does and not as it should.  Questions, discussions, and predictions are, in the end, no more than memories of turning pages.  So there is no point of asking who will win nor whether it should go on.  Besides, good ideas from Echo can be incorporated into RSS eventually so the users will win no matter which format wins.