Google Kills Google Reader- My Thoughts
I woke up this morning to very sad news- that Google is killing Google Reader. Seriously this is really bad news for me (and I know many, many other internet users)- it is central to the way I work.
Here are some of my thoughts on the subject…
I am totally gutted that Google+ is doing this as Google Reader is central to the way I work- I even wrote an article on that – http://iag.me/tech/how-to-stay-on-top-of-the-latest-social-media-and-tech-news/
Google Reader for those of you who don’t know is an app that allows you to subscribe to blogs and other websites using a technology called RSS. Whenever a blog or website publishes a new story you get notified. With Google Reader you could subscribe to the websites you wanted to.
I use it to syncronise starred or favourited articles to Twitter, EverNote and other platforms using an app called IFTTT use it on my Android phone using NewsRob (the NewsRob developer Mariano Kamp will be gutted) and on the web with the Google Reader app.
FeedDemon which I’ve used for years is shutting down also- http://nick.typepad.com/blog/2013/03/the-end-of-feeddemon.html (sad day for Nick Bradbury )
I just don’t understand the need for Google to do this- although I have heard it’s all about Google+. What I don’t understand even more so I don’t understand why people use the likes of Flipboard instead. I love the look of the likes of Flipboard and it’s great for casual reading, but it’s not a viable alternative to RSS. Perhaps the way I work is different?
There are many news discovery tools out there, but they tend to be about what an algorithm things you want to read. How about leaving that decision to me? With Google Reader I could subscribe to what I wanted and read all the articles from the sites I wanted to read. I could quickly scan down and star the articles I wanted to read later.
Of course this doesn’t bode well for the likes of FeedBurner. I have already switched over my site’s RSS feed to FeedBlitz rather reluctantly (despite FeedBlitz being great and CEO Phil Hollows being really helpful) . In fact you should read Phil Hollows article called – RIP Google Reader: First Thoughts – http://archive.feedblitz.com/84/~4561010/22527555/5e456e1e240add8b3e40e660bd04a8f9
Is this finally the end of RSS? I really hope note. RSS might be geeky but it really is the best way to discover content on your favourite websites.
We could campaign to Google to reverse their decision, but I doubt that will work. What has really needed to happen is a de-geekification of RSS (starting with the name)- if the general public saw how awesome RSS was then perhaps we wouldn’t be in the position that we’re in. Perhaps us geeks are the ones to blame in the end?
Yes, we can switch to one of the alternatives in this article. Perhaps even one that offers a similar API (and for which IFTTT will enable as an alternative) but is that not just delaying the inevitable?
We need an RSS evangelist, and we need one…well…like 10 years ago.
There is an interesting article by Whitson Gordon on Lifehacker on alternatices to Google Reader – http://lifehacker.com/5990456/google-reader-is-getting-shut-down-here-are-the-best-alternatives – the problem is at the moment there aren’t great alternatives (and particularly since one of the one mentioned- FeedBurner is being pulled anyway).
Another article that shows the strength of opposition to this is the one on The Verge by Chris Ziegler – look at the emotion in the tweets and the comments- http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/13/4101224/google-dont-turn-off-reader-signed-the-internet
There is now a petition you can sign. Google probably won’t listen but it is worth a try- https://www.change.org/petitions/google-keep-google-reader-running (Thanks Wouter Halswijk for the heads up)
A sad, sad day. What are your thoughts?
