Google Reader Shutting Down July 1, 2013

[pdurrant]

Bother. And I'd only just switched to Reeder for my RSS feeds, too!

So now I'm using NetNewsWire, which is free (if you don't mind a small advert) and isn't dependent on a third-party to check for new articles in the feeds.

[Teknikal]

Well I've messed about with a few since yesterday what I think I'm going to do is use protopage as my browser homepage (kind of like iGoogle) and I've already removed the google reader apps from my Android phone and set up RSSDemon instead.

The drawback is I will probably catch most stuff on my phone and there will be no syncing but I prefer it to feedly which I also gave a spin.

Of course I'll still be looking at other options which are bound to start appearing now and I'll miss the syncing between devices on Google reader which was probably it's best point.

[Dai Shan]

Here's another alternative, if you want to roll your own aggregator: Tiny Tiny RSS

I like the idea of not being beholding to another company that might any day close, so this project appeals to me.

However, I REALLY like Feedly on my phone (not so crazy about the website). It bookmarks to Instapaper, which I use for further reading for later or on my ereader. So I'll probably go with Feedly, for now. But, I'll be looking more into TTR again.

Who knows, maybe with Google closing down Reader (what's next Gmail?!) we might soon get even better alternatives, since, it seems, everyone who relied on RSS just used Reader.

[tompe]

I really like the Android Google Reader App. So what can I use on the phone that are synched so I also can read on the Web?

[EowynCarter]

Seam like someone started a petition

http://venturebeat.com/2013/03/14/ch...google-reader/

[Skibble]

I'm using Feedly now, via Chrome (on the computer) and Android (on my phone); it syncs between the two. I'm very impressed with its options and ease of use. Feedly already has a plan in place for a seamless transition over to its own backend when Google stops its service, and it is adding more servers to handle the influx of new users as we speak. Responsive, attractive, and easy to use? I'd call it a winner. Everything else I tried was either too complicated to bother with, or much more elaborate than I wanted.

[toddos]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

Seam like someone started a petition

http://venturebeat.com/2013/03/14/ch...google-reader/

I don't understand why people ever think these online petitions work. They don't. People have been doing them in one form or another for probably the past 15 or more years, yet I can't point to a single one that has ever worked. This one isn't going to work, either.

So go ahead, sign the petition. Make your voice "heard". Google's not going to reverse direction.

[toddos]

Originally Posted by Skibble

I'm using Feedly now, via Chrome (on the computer) and Android (on my phone); it syncs between the two.

It syncs between the two because it's using Google Reader as the backend. Yes, they have a transition plan. But that transition plan is just a reimplementation of Reader's public API, and who knows how well it's been tested?

But really, my biggest gripe is that Feedly is not a website. It requires a browser add-on, which means it doesn't work in IE (not so important for desktop, but super important for mobile/tablet devices like Surface and Windows Phone), Opera, or pretty much anything that's not Chrome/Firefox/Safari. For mobile devices, an app is required but they only support Android and iOS. If you have a Windows Phone or Blackberry, forget about it.

Maybe they'll open up their Reader API reimplementation to others to use (like NextGen Reader), or maybe they won't.

[ballfresno]

I use Gwene.org which converts RSS/Atom feeds into news items accessible by any NNTP reader. Very old skool but works like a charm with email readers that support NNTP (aka USENET or newsgroups).

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by toddos

I don't understand why people ever think these online petitions work. They don't. People have been doing them in one form or another for probably the past 15 or more years, yet I can't point to a single one that has ever worked. This one isn't going to work, either.

So go ahead, sign the petition. Make your voice "heard". Google's not going to reverse direction.

Wasn't the Stop SOPA petition part of successful campaign to get the U.S. government to back off (at least for now)?

I also did a Google search for successful petitions and they do exits. Not that I had heard of any of the issue but for the people who signed the petitions, they won.

I do agree that Google probably won't back down but they might delay the closure to give devs more time to come up with better solutions (or hopefully go open source).

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by Skibble

I'm using Feedly now, via Chrome (on the computer) and Android (on my phone); it syncs between the two. I'm very impressed with its options and ease of use. Feedly already has a plan in place for a seamless transition over to its own backend when Google stops its service, and it is adding more servers to handle the influx of new users as we speak. Responsive, attractive, and easy to use? I'd call it a winner. Everything else I tried was either too complicated to bother with, or much more elaborate than I wanted.

I heard the same on Tech News Today. I'm trying Feedly right now and so far so good. I like that I don't have to use the magazine or mosaic layouts and can stick to titles which helps find what I want to read quicker. I really miss being able to save to Pocket directly.

I have to get used to the Android app but it's not bad.

I was also reminded of Zite which I love on my webOS Touchpad but haven't tried on any Android devices. They don't seem to have a desktop component, unfortunately.

I have much experimentation ahead.

[DiapDealer]

I like Feedly's browser addon interface, but the Android app is too swipey-swipey, picture-pagey. I can't figure out where the hell I'm at in the app--or even what feed-source I'm looking at most times.

I've got it narrowed down to Taptu or Pulse for me. Both do the simple Desktop to device syncing I need without trying to totally reinvent the concept of source/content on the mobile side of things.

[toddos]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

Wasn't the Stop SOPA petition part of successful campaign to get the U.S. government to back off (at least for now)?

I also did a Google search for successful petitions and they do exits. Not that I had heard of any of the issue but for the people who signed the petitions, they won.

I do agree that Google probably won't back down but they might delay the closure to give devs more time to come up with better solutions (or hopefully go open source).

There are two important differences between SOPA and this:

1. SOPA was "defeated" (it keeps coming back) by a concerted effort of individuals contacting their congresspeople and prominent websites "going dark" to represent what would happen tot he web if it passed. There was probably a change.org petition as well, but that had little or no impact. Action + petition == Action.
2. SOPA was a law proposed by the government. In theory, the government is supposed to represent the interests of the people, and thus in theory they have to listen when all of their constituents scream out in a unified "Noooooooooooooo!". Google is not a government. Google does not have to answer to anybody but their shareholders, and their shareholders don't care about Reader unless it affects the bottom line.

If you want to make Google bring Reader back, you're going to need to organize a significant boycott of all Google products. This isn't just, "Oh, I'll start using Bing and Firefox and replace my Android phone with an iPhone." You need to get every website on Google's ad platform switched off to something else. Every business that pays for Google's hosted services and app platform need to move to something else. You have to hit them right in the money, and a "handful" (100,000+ users isn't even a noticeable blip to Google) of people switching to Bing isn't going to make them notice at all.

And then if you did succeed in shutting down all of Google's revenue streams, they're just going to go out of business rather than bring back Reader.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by toddos

There are two important differences between SOPA and this:

1. SOPA was "defeated" (it keeps coming back) by a concerted effort of individuals contacting their congresspeople and prominent websites "going dark" to represent what would happen tot he web if it passed. There was probably a change.org petition as well, but that had little or no impact. Action + petition == Action.
2. SOPA was a law proposed by the government. In theory, the government is supposed to represent the interests of the people, and thus in theory they have to listen when all of their constituents scream out in a unified "Noooooooooooooo!". Google is not a government. Google does not have to answer to anybody but their shareholders, and their shareholders don't care about Reader unless it affects the bottom line.

Note that I said the petition was "part" of a successful campaign not the only element. I also said that SOPA is out " at least for now" but that does not negate the success of the petition or the twitter campaign or the phone calls to representative or any other way the people made their displeasure known.

Your made a general statement about petitions not working, I provided some indications that they have worked. You didn't provide any qualifiers as to why petitions don't work in your original statement and your "two important differences" don't take away from the success of the petition (in my opinion).

And you seemed to have missed the last sentence of my post.

[toddos]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

Note that I said the petition was "part" of a successful campaign not the only element. I also said that SOPA is out " at least for now" but that does not negate the success of the petition or the twitter campaign or the phone calls to representative or any other way the people made their displeasure known.

Your made a general statement about petitions not working, I provided some indications that they have worked. You didn't provide any qualifiers as to why petitions don't work in your original statement and your "two important differences" don't take away from the success of the petition (in my opinion).

And you seemed to have missed the last sentence of my post.

The one example you provided was a poor example. Find me an example where change happened with only an online petition and some outraged blogs/tweets and no actual action taken.

And Google already is giving developers time to migrate. They've got a little over 3 months, which is years in internet time.