What is a Desktop Ticker?
A desktop ticker or news ticker is a computer application that allows users the world over to keep up-to-date with the latest news headlines, current affairs and stock price fluctuations by having real-time data sent to a small application, the desktop ticker, which sits on their desktop and periodically displays the latest data and updates pertaining to the various Real Simple Syndication (RSS) subscriptions a user has taken out. In short, it operates much like the news headline banners that scroll across the screen during the transmission of television news updates or like the old-fashioned news wire machines did in the past. The desktop ticker that is found on desktops today is the “ticker tape” version of regular RSS feed readers. These readers go by the name of aggregators, feed readers, or news readers and operate in much the same way as a desktop ticker but with a few slight aesthetic differences. For example, a desktop ticker usually operates by scrolling or sliding across the