Articles about Google Reader

On the heels of what is a minor kerfuffle, where Feedly announced a Pro version that involves paying for search (and a bit more), another service comes along to trump the new darling of RSS. "We are starting with 4 features: search in my feeds, one-click Evernote integration, premium support and HTTPS", Feedly announced late yesterday.

Today, rival MultiPLX began rolling out emails assuring users that its new search feature was free -- "today we are glad to announce the launch of 'search within your RSS feeds' feature and it is free for all our users. Please check out www.multiplx.com for 30 seconds to experience. There is no need to signup".

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By now you are likely sick of hearing all of the bemoaning over the death of Google Reader, but the fact is, this affected more things than it would seem on the surface. If you happen to have an Android device and listen to podcasts, then you will notice that popular app BeyondPod stopped updating on July 1.

BeyondPod used Google Listen for its backend, which, in turn, relied on Reader. When the latter died, it dragged the former down into the grave with it. Sadly BeyondPod was not able to get its update together in time for the RSS aggregator's demise. However, the company is testing the new version, and has elected to migrate to Feedly for its backend.

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The date we dreaded has rolled around -- Google Reader is scheduled to be executed at day's end. Loyal followers must make hard decisions regarding where they wish to take their business. And, in the wake of the original Google announcement, that has become increasingly difficult.

There are big names in this game, with Feedly already an established player and both AOL and Digg entering the market afterwards. I am a Feedly user since the death warrant was served, but I am less than thrilled with the experience and feel forced to begin a search for a less obtrusive alternative.

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In a couple of days, Google will pull the plug on Reader, its still much beloved RSS feed reading service, leaving dedicated users seeking refuge in the arms of Feedly, AOL Reader, Digg Reader, and numerous other alternatives.

There’s sadly no chance of a last minute reprieve. When Google decides to kill a service, it kills it. The company’s history is littered with such casualties -- great and not-so great ideas that for one reason or another just didn’t connect with a large enough audience or achieve the level that Google had hoped for.

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There's more to the rapidly-approaching Google Reader shutdown than the demise of a popular RSS feed aggregator. The service is used by numerous mobile apps on all major platforms, which will soon be unable to deliver the latest news to insatiable users unless developers embrace an alternative (that, hopefully, will not burst into flames due to a growing following).

For Nextgen Reader -- one of the most popular RSS feed delivery apps on Windows Phone 8, Windows 8 and Windows RT -- the alternative is Feedly. Its maker, Next Matters, announced the move in early-June, and, yesterday, launched an update that adds support for the service in the Windows Phone 8 app.

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For years technology blogs have trumpeted the death of RSS, but it took Google shutting down Reader to reveal just how alive and well the platform truly is.

When my colleague Alan Buckingham expressed his dislike of Feedly, Google Reader’s heir apparent, he was bombarded with emails from other feed reading services requesting he give them a shot. Other firms, like Digg, are rolling out new services, and now AOL has announced its own Reader replacement.

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The Google Reader shutdown looms large on our horizon, and it seems no last minute reprieve from the governor will be coming before that switch is thrown. Many choose to stick with the service until the bitter end -- and it will be bitter at that point, trust me. So, where to go? That is the question.

The most likely landing spot seems to be Feedly. Do not do it. I went there -- I feel as if I should say that I took a bullet for all of you! It was not horrible at first. Not perfect, but the Readly user script made it more palatable. There are also themes that present an effort at making it look better -- if you consider changing colors an improvement. Personally, I prefer functional changes an improvement. But hey, that is just me.

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It really doesn’t make any sense for Google to be shutting down such a widely used and cherished feeds subscriber as Google Reader, but the web giant isn’t going to change its mind unfortunately, so we must look towards alternatives that we can adopt.

But with countless options to choose from, where should one even begin looking? An excellent place to start is a website called Readable.cc.

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On July 1 Google pulls the plug on Reader and, like many other users, I have decided not to be caught unprepared by its rapidly-approaching demise. Shortly after the search giant revealed its execution plans I migrated all my RSS feeds to Feedly, telling myself "OK, now's the time to move on". Skip forward a couple of months and Reader is still open in a Chrome tab.

I can't really move on. The RSS feed aggregator holds a very special place in my heart as I rely on it every single day to write news stories and catch up on things that I'm passionate about. It's like the perfect relationship except for that one tiny detail (huge actually) -- the expiration date is near.

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I am long done with rattling on about Google's decision to kill Reader. I get it. RSS is popular with our crowd -- the tech writers and those who follow multiple blogs and wish for an easy way to keep up. That is where the service excels. But, let's face it -- the vast majority of people do not use this technology. My wife and kids, savvy computer users, would not know what RSS was if I asked.

However, the software has a niche, and sometimes a niche is all that is needed for a successful business. We have alternatives in Feedly, The Old Reader, Feedspot and Digg, which has bun in the oven. There are lesser-known options as well, but most users seem to be destined for one of these already established programs. Several have had to beef up server capacity and bandwidth to cope with new-found popularity.

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Digg hopes to capitalize on Google Reader's unceremonious execution, scheduled for July 1, and no last-minute reprieve from the governor appears to be coming. Today the social-sharing site released more details about its plans, including a timeframe for the beta and results from its survey of RSS users.

The new Digg reader app will arrive in June, at least in beta form. However, the company promises that this is only the start of the work. "Our beta release in June will be just the beginning, a product built with experimentation in mind by a team eager to work with you to build something you love", Digg says in an announcement today.

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The furor over Google Reader's eminent demise, while quieter, is by no means over. Today, Digg pours gasoline on the fire, by publishing results from a survey about subscription habits. Late last month, the social news site announced intentions to build its own RSS solution. The company made the task the number one priority and immediately began asking for feedback. Among the 17,000 people who signed up to help shape the product, 8,000 returned surveys.

Keep in mind this is a self-selected group of people most likely to use RSS and doesn't really represent the habits of most Internet users. Results show that "80 percent of respondents check Google Reader many times a day, and 40 percent follow more than 100 feeds". In addition, more than 75 percent of the respondents say they use Google Reader for both work and play and the the most popular response to question "If there’s one thing you could remove from Google Reader what would it be"? is "nothing".

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This morning, in a Google+ post, Eli Fennell expressed something I felt for days: That the furor over Google Reader's execution is way, way, way too much. I've written little about the service's demise and actually have argued with colleagues in group chat about their trying to hold onto Reader or mimic the sorely, last-century user interface.

My one quip, from a Thursday story: "You'll never guess what you gave up Google Reader for? The tried-and-true makes way for a few, ah, experiments. Newest: Chrome World Wide Maze". Gasp! Some people took that seriously. I meant it as indictment against all the stupid fuss about the RSS service's July 1 retirement.

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I’m a big fan of Google Reader. I don’t just access it every day, I access it, probably on average, every couple of hours or so (and still do, despite my switch to Microsoft). I have hundreds of feeds in there, and thousands of stories starred. So really I should be gutted that Google has decided to kill it off. But I’m not.

I was at first though. I even signed the petition to get Google to change its mind, even though I knew it was futile. But then I took a step back and realized that what initially seemed like devastating news for a Reader fan such as myself, was actually a blessing in disguise.

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