I had hoped that as more people grew up with computers, the share of sophisticated users who would adopt technologies with higher inherent complexity would increase. I'm disappointed the opposite has happened.

If popular browsers had embraced RSS enthusiastically, it might have taken off with mainstream users. There's nothing about the protocol that makes it difficult to provide a well-integrated experience. Firefox even had a crude built-in reader around the time it was the most popular browser, but did not put in the effort to create a good UX around it.