Skip to main content

Eulogy to Google Reader

By
Google has announced today that they are shutting down Google Reader on July 1st 2013. Here's what they said on the official Google blog:
We launched Google Reader in 2005 in an effort to make it easy for people to discover and keep tabs on their favorite websites. While the product has a loyal following, over the years usage has declined. So, on July 1, 2013, we will retire Google Reader. Users and developers interested in RSS alternatives can export their data, including their subscriptions, with Google Takeout over the course of the next four months.
Google Reader is one of the apps that I have been relying on, every single day, almost since the time it showed up in Google Labs (itself discontinued in July 2011).  I started using Reader with my @gmail.com account on Dec 7th 2005 and then migrated to my @element77.com account with Google Apps For Your Domain when Reader started supporting it. I've looked at 153,000 items in over 7 years from 200 feeds. That's an average of 60 items per day.


I read all my news feeds using Reader on web browsers and also use Reader via Newsify on my iOS devices. Newsify themselves are scrambling to figure out what this means for them. They have a one-line reaction on their website:
We're still investigating options, but our desire is to keep Newsify working after Google Reader shuts down.
With Reader, having one account accessible on any computer made it very easy to keep track of what was read and unread. Coming from the days of AvantGo on my Palm IIIxe, this was a huge improvement. This "cloud" access combined with Google's search prowess, made Reader the best news reader.

The one feature that I loved the most was Reader's keyboard shortcuts. It made it just a breeze to scan through feeds and speed read. Reader was the second best Google product I've used (after search, of course).
Google Reader keyboard shortcuts
Feedback to Google's decision is universally negative. Mashable has an op-ed - "We Still Love Reader". There's a petition asking Google to reverse their decision. Lifehacker has already put out a list of alternatives to Reader. I'll have to see which one of the alternatives comes closest to Reader.

My (futile) plea to Google - please don't kill Reader.
Labels:

Comments

Balaji Srinivasan said…
Totally agree. I use reader to keep track of your blog among others :)
March 13, 2013 at 9:52 PM
Unknown said…
Yikes! I didn't know my blog had readership :)
March 15, 2013 at 6:55 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Migrating from Palm Calendar to Google Calendar and iPhone

By
Here are the free steps to migrate from Palm's date book (or Pimlico's DateBk6 ) calendar to Google calendar for full iPhone sync. First, sync Palm with Palm Desktop . Next, open Palm Desktop, select the Calendar view, navigate to File | Export, select Export Type as Date Book Archive, Range as All and provide a file name. This will export the calendar data as Date Book Archive (.dba). There's a paid tool called DBA2CSV that converts .dba files to .csv files. However this can be done for free using Yahoo Calendar. Login into Yahoo Calendar and via Settings/Import, import the .dba file. It helps to have an empty Yahoo Calendar. Via Settings/Export, export the calendar as .csv file. Login to Google Calendar (also works with Google Apps For Your Domain GAFYD Calendar) and import the .csv file into any of the calendars. It is a good idea to create a test calendar and test the import before importing into your real calendar. That way if anything goes wrong, you can delet...
15 comments
Read more

AD-5526 Digital Multimeter

By
The AD-5526 is an ancient multimeter from A&D but for $10 one can’t complain. Has all the basic features one would expect from a multimeter and at 5.2 cm X 9.5 cm X 2.6 cm, it’s quite compact. Uses a LRV08 12V alkaline battery – not a common battery in the USA.
Post a Comment
Read more

RTL-SDR, Raspberry Pi and Plane Spotting via ADS-B

By
Most modern aircraft carry an ADS-B ( Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast ) transmitter that puts out information about the aircraft's identification, geospatial location, speed, and heading. This information is received by ground stations and air traffic control and used as a replacement for radar-based tracking. ADS-B relies on line-of-sight communication via signals transmitted at 1090 Mhz and has a range of up to 250 nautical miles. Sites such as FlightAware , FlightRadar24 , Plane Finder , RadarBox24 , etc. collect ADS-B information using a vast array of ADS-B receivers, some of which are run by hobbyists, and present this information on maps with near-real-time updates. With the advent of cheap software-defined-radio (SDR) dongles, over the past few years, it has become extremely cheap and easy for amateurs to receive ADS-B signals, upload data to these sites and, in exchange, get access to premium features from these sites. This guide will walk you t...
Post a Comment
Read more