by Dietrich Schmitz
Okay. So Google pulled the plug on Reader. This is a major disappointment.
But it's not the end of the world. There are options everyone should know exist to help them get their daily regimen of Internet news to stay on top of things.
As for myself, I am and have been a Reader user for several years. Since Reader will not be turned off until July 1, 2013 you have some time at least to plan for transitioning to something else.
Keep in mind, in Reader settings (gear symbol) on the import/export tab, you can export all of your collective rss feeds to a file which can in turn be used by most other feed aggregators you'll find. It would be prudent to make an export today so you don't forget about it later, and in the unlikely event you need it, it will be in your documents to retrieve for recovery.
Alright. So, what to do? Well, I am happy to report that you are going to be fine.
For one, I have been using a superb product named Feedly for over a year now and must say that, since making the switch to it, I have never once gone back to Reader. This should tell you something about the quality of Feedly.
Essentially, Feedly takes your existing Google Reader account and reformats the information in a way that from my perspective makes its reading and management far easier than any other rss feed aggregation tool I have ever used.
It is really nice and you will also be happy to know that Feedly have applied 'due diligence' and are actively engaged in porting Google Reader to their platform.
The result will be that, come July 1, if you are currently using Feedly with Google Reader rss feeds, Feedly will gently take over the reigns and your transition will be a seamless process.
That is great because, as I mentioned, Feedly is my tool of choice and is truly a great way to digest and process your daily news.
You might know already from experience, Feedly isn't static and a refresh will result in your seeing updates throughout the day--in realtime--as news arrives, you'll be the first to know.
Because RSS has become so fast (seconds to minutes at most waiting for an rss feed to propogate), I rely less on following Twitter news feeds. Twitter has its place, of course, but you'll be happy to also know that Feedly comes in an extension (plugin) for both Chrome and Firefox.
So, fear not. If you hear those crickets, I am willing to bet you, you forgot to open your Feedly page.
Get on it. Get Feedly. Feedly has your back.
-- Dietrich
But it's not the end of the world. There are options everyone should know exist to help them get their daily regimen of Internet news to stay on top of things.
As for myself, I am and have been a Reader user for several years. Since Reader will not be turned off until July 1, 2013 you have some time at least to plan for transitioning to something else.
Keep in mind, in Reader settings (gear symbol) on the import/export tab, you can export all of your collective rss feeds to a file which can in turn be used by most other feed aggregators you'll find. It would be prudent to make an export today so you don't forget about it later, and in the unlikely event you need it, it will be in your documents to retrieve for recovery.
Alright. So, what to do? Well, I am happy to report that you are going to be fine.
For one, I have been using a superb product named Feedly for over a year now and must say that, since making the switch to it, I have never once gone back to Reader. This should tell you something about the quality of Feedly.
Essentially, Feedly takes your existing Google Reader account and reformats the information in a way that from my perspective makes its reading and management far easier than any other rss feed aggregation tool I have ever used.
It is really nice and you will also be happy to know that Feedly have applied 'due diligence' and are actively engaged in porting Google Reader to their platform.
The result will be that, come July 1, if you are currently using Feedly with Google Reader rss feeds, Feedly will gently take over the reigns and your transition will be a seamless process.
That is great because, as I mentioned, Feedly is my tool of choice and is truly a great way to digest and process your daily news.
You might know already from experience, Feedly isn't static and a refresh will result in your seeing updates throughout the day--in realtime--as news arrives, you'll be the first to know.
Because RSS has become so fast (seconds to minutes at most waiting for an rss feed to propogate), I rely less on following Twitter news feeds. Twitter has its place, of course, but you'll be happy to also know that Feedly comes in an extension (plugin) for both Chrome and Firefox.
So, fear not. If you hear those crickets, I am willing to bet you, you forgot to open your Feedly page.
Get on it. Get Feedly. Feedly has your back.
-- Dietrich
