undefined | Better HN

0 pointswyclif13y ago0 comments

I've been an active, daily user of Google Reader since the beginning. I knew this was coming, but it still doesn't feel right because unlike other Google properties that I don't use, it's part of my information flow.

What I'd really like to see here on HN is a post comparing other RSS contenders like NewsBlur and The Old Reader.

0 comments

Maxious13y ago

These seems to be the most short sighted bit - they had the techarati 1% visiting a Google social media property multiple times a day and yet they neutered it (rather than integrating properly) to work more on Google+.

kingoftheintern13y ago

My impression is that the internet's elite click almost no ads, so Google as a profit-seeking entity doesn't necessarily care too much about what they do or think in aggregate, as long as they don't get upset enough to be heard by people who actually make up their revenue streams.

anigbrowl13y ago

That's what's stupid. Outlier users like this are the least likely to be attracted to standard consumption vectors like ads (IYSWIM), but the avenues of investigation they pursue instead are likely a very good guide to where the median consumer in a given market will move later.

A fanatic motorcyclist (for example) is going to scour all sorts of obscure information sources that non-fanatics will not have the patience or time for. But that pattern of scouring will point towards the factors which do move the mass of consumers some time later. Heavy users of Reader were supplying Google with a lot of high-quality data, and if the product had been given the same attention as something like GMail that information would be worth proportionally more.

simcop238713y ago

I'd love that kind of comparison that also includes if there is any desktop (linux hopefully) app support too. I've been using google reader and liferea to keep my rss feeds synced between devices and to avoid re-reading things i already saw.