Chances are that if you’re reading this blog, you’re probably reading a feed of it, whether it be via a Twitter link, via Facebook or Google+ or by what is called an RSS feed. Many folks that follow blogs and the like via RSS use a service from Google called Google Reader.
Google announced today that they’re sunsetting their Google Reader service.
In the interest of trying not to use salty language, I won’t type what I said when I found this out. To say this is disappointing would be accurate. There are worse things in the world, but I keep up on all those blogs in the right hand margin via the Google Reader service. Using Google Reader, and apps that use the API, I am able to keep up on news from many sources and I’m also able to read the blog entries of many fellow bloggers that sit down and take the time to write out their thoughts in spurts that are longer than 140 characters.
By the way, I added a new blog to the blog roll today. Hello Tom Whittaker!
I’m bummed (but not about Tom’s blog).
Since Google has randomly decided to end support for Google Reader, and judging by the outrage on Twitter and the like, I’m not the only person that’s bummed, I begin to wonder what other services Google might kill in the future. Tired of supporting Gmail? Kill it.
Tired of supporting Blogger? Kill it. (That’d be hard for many bloggers, including the very popular Joe.My.God..
Tired of supporting Google Wallet? Kill it.
They’ve done the same thing with countless other products and quite frankly, Google is just erratic enough to make me stay solidly in the Apple/iOS walled garden. Apple might be thought of as evil by some, but at least their evilness is complete and solid.
Google’s mantra has always been “Do No Evil.” I hope that someday they live up that mantra. Because right now they’re failing at it.
I was equally bummed to read that Reader was getting the axe today. It’s a Google product that I’ve used (and continue to use) on a daily basis. I suspect this is going to affect a lot of top bloggers’ traffic as well.
It’s too bad – I felt the same thing about WAVE. The problem was that no one understood it and it was tough to explain but to me it was a great real time collaboration tool. Can’t win ’em all I guess.
Any alternative to keep my RSS feeds intact that you know of?
I don’t think that they gave Google Wave a fair chance. I was just starting to get into the service and it was canceled. I have used iGoogle for years and that’s on the short list. And now Google Reader. It’s a solid reminder that the users are not the top priority for Google. It’s a shame. They have a good product in Google Reader and judging by the outcry on Twitter and the like, there’s a lot of people still passionate about the product.
Well said. Disappointing news. And thanks for the shout out.
I’m looking forward to catching up on your blog and I’m happy that I discovered it today. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
The only reason Google is killing Reader: They couldn’t figure out how to make a profit on it.
I’m still sad.
I completely agree. They want you to curate your news/blog sources through Google+. They have more control there.