Substandard Standard

I just threw what is being touted as the new standard feed icon on to the sidebar of this blog – the little orange box with the radio waves. I’m all for a standard in this department, as much as I don’t really like the look of the icon, but will use it to (as the Feed Icons site puts it) ‘bring feeds to the forefront.’

One little thing bugs me on the Feed Icons (a group trying to promote the standard icon) website – it states down the bottom that they will soon be adding a gallery for people to upload custom feed icons for others to see and use. Is it just me, or does this destroy the point of having a standardized icon in the first place? It is bad enough that the site offers the icon in different colors, let alone whatever other form of customization that may surface.

Really, what is the point of a standard that is not being followed, even by the very place that is trying to promote it?

Also, while there is a feed for the icon releases, why does the site not utilize feed auto-discovery?