People using Yahoo Pipes will be able to mix and mashup data sources from all kinds of places on the Internet into combined feeds they can share with others.
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Yahoo Pipes will appeal to the more technologically comfortable people at first. The ability to combine information in a relatively easy fashion should quickly broaden the appeal of Pipes. Response to the recently launched Pipes from some of the most enthusiastic techie types probably was summed up best by publisher Tim O'Reilly, who lauded Pipes on the O'Reilly Radar posted about Pipes, and commented on the error Cutts found. As expected it was fixed quickly. At its core, Pipes allows for mashups of RSS feeds. Those feeds can come from blogs and websites, along with plenty of other resources that allow people to create a feed based on a query, like a search at eBay that returns a list of auctions for Chicago Bears apparel. The real utility for Pipes will come when someone creates a Pipe of such usefulness that others will pick up on it and tweak it for their use. Pipes can be cloned and shared, and we expect those features will bring in more users as really great Pipes are created. We'll be interested in seeing how our readers in the search and e-business communities put Pipes to use.