W.W.M.P.D.
What would Matt Pinfield do? He probably wouldn't
spend ten grand on default feed placement with Userland and then claim he did it to support RSS as a format. Um no.
Where the hell is J.J. when you need someone to explain the complicated stuff?
I ponied up to the bar and made a commitment to a format. And now I feel fucked.
Please. You ponied up to the proverbial bar and made an investment on increased readership. It had nothing to do with any particular standards or formats. You wanted more readers. You didn't buy a piece of Userland, you bought promotional services from them.
Moreover, if Adam Curry wants to keep buying aggregator eyeballs, he'd be wise to follow which way the wind blows not toss his hat in the ring as a meteorologist. In practical terms, all the threat of not supporting an aggregator that supports nEcho (in addition to RSS, most probably) does is say "I'm not actually going to buy paid placements anymore." Like it or not, if nEcho takes root, it will be because tool developers are already supporting it, your hypothetical investment will have zero impact. Further, choosing to support tools that implement fewer standards as opposed to more is a good way to make sure it nets you the lowest possible return.
Browser statistics and run rates being equal for two sites, would you buy ad space on the site that only supported IE? Only if you wanted to reach fewer eyeballs. Ill-conceived investments are a god-given right, the last five years have driven that much home.