For a long time now I am trying to wrap my head around RX. And, to be true, I am never sure if I got it - or not.

Today, I found an explanation on <http://reactive-extensions.github.com/RxJS/> which - in my opinion - is horrible. It says:

> 
> RxJS is to events as promises are to async.
> 
> 
> 

Great. This is a sentence so full of complexity that if you do not have the slightest idea of what RX is about, after that sentence you are quite as dumb as before.

And this is basically my problem: All the explanations in the usual places you find about RX make (at least me) feel dumb. They explain RX as a highly sophisticated concept with *lots* of highly complicated words and terms and whatsoever, and I am never quite sure what it is about.

So my question is: How would you explain RX to someone who is five years old? I'd like a clear, picturesque explanation of what it is, what it is good for, and what its main concepts are?