I am an avid Google Reader user, so I’m thoroughly annoyed by Google’s decision to kill it as of July 1. But there’s no stopping the tide, so I’ve made the move to Feedbin as a Reader replacement as of today. It’s a slick, snappy web application with a committed developer and, critically, support for Reeder, my favorite offline RSS reading application. Let’s hope this works!
Google Reader
Google Reader’s Roach Motel “Un-Friends” the Internet
I’m not whining and crying because Google broke something I love. I’m upset because Google redirected a vibrant world of sharing into their own walled garden with no way to escape. This move effectively captures the fraternity of Reader sharers and firmly directs them to Google Plus for sharing and commenting. Sure, the new Reader is ugly and features are reduced generally. But the elimination of the sharing and reading feedback loop is a real loss to Internet users.
Instapaper for iPad and iPhone Enhances My Web World
One of my favorite iPad and iPhone apps is Instapaper. Like the iPad itself, Instapaper seems almost foolishly simple and derivative until you experience it. Then it becomes something else entirely: A product so useful you may ask yourself “how did I ever get along without this?”
Google Reader Gets More Social
Google Reader has long been my RSS feed reader of choice, but using it was never much of a social experience. The earlier attempts at community, from shared feeds to comments, just fell flat. Good thing the solo experience (not to mention the iPhone version) was so solid or I would have given up a […]
Google Is Heading For A Cliff; What Will They Do?
Google is the most important company to the Internet. Hyberbole? I think not! Without Google, the Internet that we all know and love would be a very different place, as would the business of IT. Along with Microsoft and the supporting community around LAMP, Google is the very foundation of modern computing. But the foundation of Google itself, its ability to rank Internet content and present relevant information to its users, is at risk. What will they do to fix it?