Library Talk

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

RSS Readers - Is Google Really that Great?

OK, I need someone to talk to me about Google Reader.

After trying a few different readers (a long time ago), I settled on Bloglines. I guess I don't think about it much; it's always done what I thought it was supposed to do.

Now everyone is talking about Google Reader and how WONDERFUL it is! So, I tried it, and, um, I don't get all the excitement. Am I missing something? I am not using aggregators "correctly?" What's my problem?

Thanks,
Jessica

posted by jess at 4:24 PM

5 Comments:

  • I'm with you, Jessica. I've tried it out, but it seems to do most of what Bloglines does, but not as much. And it's not as shareable as Bloglines. And I don't get the thrill of seeing that a new person has added my blog to their blogroll. Also, Google Reader slows my laptop down something fierce. Bloglines may be slow to update feeds sometimes, but overall I find its performance is good enough for me.

    By Blogger joshua m. neff, at 6:51 PM  

  • I have always hated the way that Bloglines marks all unread items in a subscription as "read" as soon as you click on it. Google reader doesn't do that, so that may be one feature that people are responding to.

    It is less ugly?

    I use NetNewsWire Lite, so I don't really have a dog in this fight...

    By Blogger Steve, at 12:59 AM  

  • Yes, it is a little less ugly.

    And, funny, but it was the fact that I had to mark everything as read myself that I didn't like about Google - because yes, I am THAT lazy.

    By Blogger Jessica, at 9:20 AM  

  • I recently switched over to Google Reader after becoming annoyed with Bloglines and I'm fully hooked. Cleaner layout (it's pretty!) smooth scrolling, easier to read, easier to sort feeds into personalized folders.

    I've noticed that it will pause to 'catch up' every so often - maybe that's the slowness that Josh mentioned earlier - but it doesn't happen enough to bother me. And it's Google, so you know they'll be making improvments and constantly tweaking.

    As with all things, YMMV, but I'd give it some time and it'll grow on you.

    By Blogger greggwinsor, at 11:53 AM  

  • I'm playing around with Google reader this week, but Bloglines is a habit I'd have a hard time breaking. Google's definitely cleaner and prettier, but I like the functionality of Bloglines. The ability to subscribe with just a click is especially nice.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:32 PM  

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