So Google is retiring Google Reader. This is a blow for a lot of people (including me) who rely on it for keeping up with selected websites, and then sharing the news with one click.
Google has been slowly strangling it for a while - it removed some of the features, meaning we had to find ways around its sharing features to make sure our IFTTT pipes don't get blocked.
But now, as of July 1, it's gone. In my view, this means one of two things...
A. Google is so focused on the future that it thinks ridiculous glasses that Google stuff when you look at it is more important than the internet.
B. RSS has had its day, and anyone still using Google Reader deserves to join it in the scrap heap alongside CompuServe, Netscape and WAP sites.
I'm not sure which one it is.
1 comment:
I'm equally miffed. Let me chew on those two possible alternatives with you.
"Google [...] thinks ridiculous glasses that Google stuff when you look at it is more important than the internet."
Are you equating RSS and the internet? Those ridiculous glasses are dependent on the internet though, right? So it could just be an indication that innovations like ridiculous glasses are a better business investment than maintaining a free RSS reader.
"RSS has had its day"
So you think Google's involvement in a particular technology exemplifies the relevance and purpose of that technology? When Google stopped validating HTML, did that also signal the demise of the internet (or at least HTML)?
Google's strategy is based around building an enormous intelligence from its customers data. Whatever intelligence they're getting from Reader, is either going to get sourced from elsewhere or not at all if it just wasn't worth getting anymore. Perhaps a bit of both.
Google+ would be a likely source of that kind of data now but I'm not convinced that the data they get from all 7 users of G+ would be representative of the broader internet audience.
Feedly starting running like a lame dog yesterday after Google posted up that message. They're probably going to do some good business from it. I actually prefer the Feedly experience so I'm grateful for the impetus.
What I don't understand is why Google didn't attempt to retain their readership and promote G+ as its replacement by merging Reader into it. They could either add the RSS feeds to the G+ feed or replace the RSS feed with the G+ profile of the provider. That way, the number of users of G+ could potentially double to 14... maybe even 15.
My vote goes for option C: the money they were pumping into it was beginning to exceed the money they were getting out of it.
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