We are steadily counting down the days until google reader is retired by Google. I am not a technical whizz, so my thoughts on what will happen once google reader is retired are worth no more than anyone else’s and are indeed based on the sort of cursory web-search that anyone can do.
I suppose we should all be intensely grateful that Google were willing to support google reader for so long, it provided a basis for a myriad of RSS readers, allowing countless developers to earn some money, while Google did the heavy lifting running all the servers, and only to find any ads they did try and insert stripped away by the RSS readers.
At time of writing there is talk of a few possible alternatives to google reader, but as practically all the RSS readers are simply a front end that goes above google reader, and details of any alternatives still seem sketchy, the demise of google reader might even signal the demise of quick easy blog reading. Personally I subscribe to a couple of dozen blogs, some fairly mainstream, some entirely esoteric, and they all have their own little place in my affections. I have edged away from regularly reading magazines or indeed quality newspapers, knowing that much of my casual awareness of what is happening in the world is now far more effectively provided by blogs.
This does demonstrate one of the fundamental principles of the internet or business, better to buy a poor product that is obviously under development, than a better product that is not being updated. As soon as something starts to sit on the shelf, taking in money, but unchanging, it is a warning sign to the consumer. Don’t put too many eggs in this particular basket, it might not be there before too long. The writing was on the wall for google reader a long time ago.
