The big news yesterday in the tech world was Google’s announcement to close the Reader service. The service will shut down on July 1. I keep wondering if the decision to close Reader is an effort to move more people over to Google+ to act as a newsfeeder?
I’m following Gizmodo’s “Google Reader” tag thread in hopes of finding a suitable replacement. Does anyone have a recommendation for a newsreader service or an opinion on why Google would abandon Reader?
More links:
- 8 Google Reader Alternatives (Gizmodo)
- We’re Building a Reader (Digg)
UPDATE:
I decided to try a couple of the RSS news reader alternatives and here’s what I’ve discovered.
oh no! i actually use the blogger reader integration so i actually have stopped using Google reader but that for the longest time was my favorite rss feed reader
I’m now using Bamboo on Firefox and Feedreader on my desktop. I’d like to see a list of good alternatives for ALL Google products!
I’ve been a Google Reader user for a very long time. I have started using feedly as a test. I like it well enough so far but there are a few things that bug me. I’ll probably give it another couple of weeks and see if it works for me in the long run.
I’ve switched over to feedly since the news one announced too (as per commenter above) and so far it seems good. Big plus is they will automatically store your Google Reader feeds so no complicated transfer process. Just download and go!
I’m searching for a replacement, too, but my issue is that I use Reeder on my iPad to access Google Reader. Apparently Reeder is going to come up with their own solution to this issue. Let’s hope so. I have a strong dislike for social networks creeping into my RSS and I want something clean and quick to flip through so if I am not interested in something I just pass it up and it is marked as read. I’ve briefly tried almost everything out there. Really didn’t like Feedly at all. Or Flipboard…or Pulse. They look pretty, but pretty isn’t what I want or need. Zite has updated their service to make up for the Reader loss, but it’s not perfect (although Zite is seemingly less about being pretty and connecting to everything Social than the other readers – that, to me, means it’s more useful). NewsBlur is an OK option but they’re not able to handle the capacity right now so their service is really slow (if it works at all). I’ve seen so many ideas and options thrown around. Fact is, nothing can match Google Reader right now. I am really holding onto hope that Reeder does something that enables me to keep using it seamlessly when Reader disappears.
I went with Feedly too. It takes a bit of getting used to, but I think I will like it okay. I was with Bloglines when it died too–moved to Google Reader, and liked it better.
Also looking at NetVibes, but after started a dashboard, I can’t do anything with the free version because they are also overwhelmed with Google migrators.