Google Reader
I’ve been a long time user of Google Reader but I never thought to write about it before. I spent a long time looking for an RSS reader with little success. My requirements were simple. I want to add multiple RSS feeds and then it would download them, sort them by date and let me read through them, discard them as I read them. I tried a few different systems but I can’t remember what they are now.
Then I came across Google Reader and it did everything that I needed. It is quick and easy to use. Downloads all my feeds while I’m offline so I don’t have to wait for them to download like I would with a desktop application. This also means I don’t miss things if I don’t logon for a couple of days. Some high volume feeds that only show the most recent wouldn’t have the items after a while.
My only complaint is that it doesn’t find duplicates. For example, I have the BBC’s front page and technology feeds, often there is an article that published to both and I get it twice. Hardly the end of the world though.
I also like that I can add all the blogs I read to it and then don’t need to worry about checking them anymore. Prior to using Reader I would have to remember to check every so often for new posts. A lot of the blogs I read only post once a week or less so I would usually forget about it. Now I don’t have to remember, it just pops up with 1 unread item when I want it.
It’s not really Reader’s fault but it is annoying when I don’t go on for a while and the number of unread items get silly. I have a few high volume news site feeds and I will get about 200/day in total. After not going on very often during the Christmas break, I came back to 1,000+ unread items. Fortunately you can mark as read all items older than a day, week or two 2 weeks so that is what I did.
I like the new features they have recently added, such as the recommended items and recommended feeds. Often they are a bit off but then maybe I don’t click the ‘Like’ button often enough to give it anything to work with. I have found a couple of new feeds through it.
Overall, I am happy with it and can’t see why, for now at least, I will ever need another feed reader.