Steve Rubel and a variety of others are opining that Google Reader could be turned into the next Digg. Oh, I so so so agree with that!
Imagine what’d happen if Google bought TechMeme, and used its algorithms on Google Reader feeds too. Hmmm.
I do know that I’m really seeing some great blogging come through Google Reader — the result set is more diverse than TechMeme (more Z listers, yeah!) and more focused than Digg (less noise, more tech).
A commenter over on Rubel’s blog is wondering how Google is going to dominate the news aggregator business to make this happen. I don’t think that Google needs more than a few thousand people. Based on the notes I’m getting from my readers a lot of people are converting to Google Reader.
If Google improves it a little bit more, I imagine that’ll turn to a flood of people. I sure would like to find other Google Reader users who share items similar to the ones I share with people. I’d love to combine those two feeds, then remove duplicates (dupes are a real problem once you start subscribing to other Google Reader feeds).
I also wish my readers could just download my OPML file without me sharing it somewhere. Speaking of which, gotta work on that, but after this weekend since I’ll be busy until then.
I started using Google Reader as an experiment a month or so ago, switching from Newsgator – and despite loving NewsGator’s offline clients, I don’t think I’ll be going back. The interface is really nice, the starring and Sharing features are well thought-out, and it works with IE, Firefox AND Safari, which is a bonus.
I agree that they could build some very interesting social software stuff around the Sharing idea, too. At the moment, its almost hidden in the background – but it could easily go some interesting places in the future.
I started using Google Reader as an experiment a month or so ago, switching from Newsgator – and despite loving NewsGator’s offline clients, I don’t think I’ll be going back. The interface is really nice, the starring and Sharing features are well thought-out, and it works with IE, Firefox AND Safari, which is a bonus.
I agree that they could build some very interesting social software stuff around the Sharing idea, too. At the moment, its almost hidden in the background – but it could easily go some interesting places in the future.
can you upload u r opml file sumwhere..
can you upload u r opml file sumwhere..
Yes, but this weekend. I’m busy until then.
Yes, but this weekend. I’m busy until then.
I think Google Reader is great, except I would love to be able to comment directly on blogs from the Reader without having to open another screen and actually go to the blog. I would also like to have the shared items go directly to my own blog. Since you are in a dialogue with Google and I am a peon, why don’t you suggest this to someone?
I think Google Reader is great, except I would love to be able to comment directly on blogs from the Reader without having to open another screen and actually go to the blog. I would also like to have the shared items go directly to my own blog. Since you are in a dialogue with Google and I am a peon, why don’t you suggest this to someone?
I love Google Reader. It has nailed every aspect of feed reading that I need.
Sharing has a ton of potential too. I know that by subscribing to Scoble’s sharing feed and a few others that I never miss anything of note.
I love Google Reader. It has nailed every aspect of feed reading that I need.
Sharing has a ton of potential too. I know that by subscribing to Scoble’s sharing feed and a few others that I never miss anything of note.
I moved to Google reader a couple of weeks ago, and its been a great experience. One thing I miss, that I used to use quite a bit of, from the Opera browsers built in feed reader, was the ability to set up searches of the feeds. I used to have searches like symbian, india, e61, etc set up and all the new messages with any of these words in it would get tagged accordingly, so I could see them quicker and in a single folder. Actually the (nonexistent) search features pretty much suck in Google Reader.
Thats pretty much the only thing Im missing.
I moved to Google reader a couple of weeks ago, and its been a great experience. One thing I miss, that I used to use quite a bit of, from the Opera browsers built in feed reader, was the ability to set up searches of the feeds. I used to have searches like symbian, india, e61, etc set up and all the new messages with any of these words in it would get tagged accordingly, so I could see them quicker and in a single folder. Actually the (nonexistent) search features pretty much suck in Google Reader.
Thats pretty much the only thing Im missing.
I started using Google Reader when I got fed up with feed clients that I couldn’t figure out, or that had too many “features”. Google Reader was so easy to use, unencumbered by crap and just so intuitive: it fits my understanding of what RSS does. Plus, when I click on an RSS link, it does what I expect: it goes to my G.R. page. That little bit by itself was enough to sell me. And finally, it’s web based, so reading at work or reading at home doesn’t involve duplication of effort.
I started using Google Reader when I got fed up with feed clients that I couldn’t figure out, or that had too many “features”. Google Reader was so easy to use, unencumbered by crap and just so intuitive: it fits my understanding of what RSS does. Plus, when I click on an RSS link, it does what I expect: it goes to my G.R. page. That little bit by itself was enough to sell me. And finally, it’s web based, so reading at work or reading at home doesn’t involve duplication of effort.
I too switched to Google Reader a while back, the sharing aspect is a plus, but feels very under utilized, one has to wonder if they do have something like this in the works. It makes sense for them, they acquired Blogger, and made it easy to add AdSense to pages. And how many other blogs out there use AdSense? It’s in their best interest to drive as much traffic to as many blogs as possible, a front page link to an aggregation service of peoples shared and starred items would certainly do that. And there’s no overhead for them, people are responsible for maintaining their own blog sites. Win-Win for Google.
I too switched to Google Reader a while back, the sharing aspect is a plus, but feels very under utilized, one has to wonder if they do have something like this in the works. It makes sense for them, they acquired Blogger, and made it easy to add AdSense to pages. And how many other blogs out there use AdSense? It’s in their best interest to drive as much traffic to as many blogs as possible, a front page link to an aggregation service of peoples shared and starred items would certainly do that. And there’s no overhead for them, people are responsible for maintaining their own blog sites. Win-Win for Google.
Amit: here’s one workaround to searching Google Reader: http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2006/12/how-to-add-search-to-google-reader.html
Amit: here’s one workaround to searching Google Reader: http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2006/12/how-to-add-search-to-google-reader.html
Google reader is great. I just wish they’d fix the leaks. My preference is to just leave it open in a tab under IE7, in its own IE process. Doing that, it’s typically grown to about a half gig process size within a week, usually within 3-4 days. But then again, google talk leaks just about as badly so I shouldn’t be surprised.
Google reader is great. I just wish they’d fix the leaks. My preference is to just leave it open in a tab under IE7, in its own IE process. Doing that, it’s typically grown to about a half gig process size within a week, usually within 3-4 days. But then again, google talk leaks just about as badly so I shouldn’t be surprised.
Google Reader is sending us (GETV) a lot of traffic today for Irina’s ‘boobs in a box’ music video. I wonder if this is because people are sharing this link or if it’s just a lot of Scobleizer and BoingBoing readers who use Google Reader. Interesting to watch.
Google Reader is sending us (GETV) a lot of traffic today for Irina’s ‘boobs in a box’ music video. I wonder if this is because people are sharing this link or if it’s just a lot of Scobleizer and BoingBoing readers who use Google Reader. Interesting to watch.
I recently switched to Newsgator Online from JetBrains Omea Reader. This was because Omea Reader had way too much functionality that I didn’t need. If Google Reader were to compete against other products, it would be the likes of Newsgator Online and downloadable clients. Digg is a different sort of service, so they can’t really compete against each other.
I recently switched to Newsgator Online from JetBrains Omea Reader. This was because Omea Reader had way too much functionality that I didn’t need. If Google Reader were to compete against other products, it would be the likes of Newsgator Online and downloadable clients. Digg is a different sort of service, so they can’t really compete against each other.
[...] I’m going to post my official agreement with what Robert Scoble and others are saying about Google Reader becoming, with a little work, the next Digg. Only this time around, with a lot less noise and more news/tech content that’s truly worthy of sharing. I mean, that is Digg’s downfall, right? Iffy content and noisy comments really limit what Digg can be to serious information consumers. [...]
It would be nice for Google Reader users to have a more unique URL rather than one with a random 15 digit number attached to it.
I still haven’t converted to Google Reader yet. In due time…
It would be nice for Google Reader users to have a more unique URL rather than one with a random 15 digit number attached to it.
I still haven’t converted to Google Reader yet. In due time…
I switched too (after one too many crashes with Intravnews and Outlook).
But I agree with Skip — there definitely is an issue with growing browser memory size on IE7 anyway — I am not sure if it can be classed as a “leak” as closing the browser releases the memory and it is not clear if this is a reader issue or an IE7 issue but regardless it is a pain in the butt.
I switched too (after one too many crashes with Intravnews and Outlook).
But I agree with Skip — there definitely is an issue with growing browser memory size on IE7 anyway — I am not sure if it can be classed as a “leak” as closing the browser releases the memory and it is not clear if this is a reader issue or an IE7 issue but regardless it is a pain in the butt.
Digg and reddit are far and away better than Google reader. Full stop. No competition. Google came into this market far too late.
Digg and reddit are far and away better than Google reader. Full stop. No competition. Google came into this market far too late.
I’ve grown so accustomed to using Google Reader to navigate feeds that I find myself trying to hit “J” to go to the next unread comment on blogs or the next article on news sites.
I don’t know if it will replace Digg. The tools have different uses.
Digg itself is morphing to the point it’s not very useful, and for me at least, I never relied on Google News’ front page for anything. Everyone has their own preference, and I just don’t expect those properties to run my viewing habits.
I’ve grown so accustomed to using Google Reader to navigate feeds that I find myself trying to hit “J” to go to the next unread comment on blogs or the next article on news sites.
I don’t know if it will replace Digg. The tools have different uses.
Digg itself is morphing to the point it’s not very useful, and for me at least, I never relied on Google News’ front page for anything. Everyone has their own preference, and I just don’t expect those properties to run my viewing habits.
Try out feedable.com. It’s in beta and is easier to use that Google Reader.
Try out feedable.com. It’s in beta and is easier to use that Google Reader.
Here’s hoping if it does become the next digg, the rediculous and frequently offensive commentary that pervades digg can be oprevented somehow.
Here’s hoping if it does become the next digg, the rediculous and frequently offensive commentary that pervades digg can be oprevented somehow.
You wore me down about seventeen plugs ago. Google reader is the shizzle. Flashback: early days of the Web… remember all the sites that were mainly lists of links to other sites? Google Reader is that again. “Here’s stuff I like.”
But that’s not enough. When I tell people about it, they often throw up their hands and say, “enough internet already. I already have more ways to find stuff than I can deal with. I have no apetitite no cycles left to ride up another learning curve. Even a shallow one.”
There are some meta-lessons here: Google Reader is an acquired taste. The sharing and community features are too well hidden for an explosive viral effect.
Biggest obstacle to wide adoption of Google Reader: it solves a problem that either don’t have or already have a solution for.
No worries. They’ll keep gaining. They have time. Cause, after all, it is the shizzle.
You wore me down about seventeen plugs ago. Google reader is the shizzle. Flashback: early days of the Web… remember all the sites that were mainly lists of links to other sites? Google Reader is that again. “Here’s stuff I like.”
But that’s not enough. When I tell people about it, they often throw up their hands and say, “enough internet already. I already have more ways to find stuff than I can deal with. I have no apetitite no cycles left to ride up another learning curve. Even a shallow one.”
There are some meta-lessons here: Google Reader is an acquired taste. The sharing and community features are too well hidden for an explosive viral effect.
Biggest obstacle to wide adoption of Google Reader: it solves a problem that either don’t have or already have a solution for.
No worries. They’ll keep gaining. They have time. Cause, after all, it is the shizzle.
Robert,
I agree with you that it would be useful for readers to download an OPML file.
However, in my opinion, a bigger drawback with many feedreaders is their inability to distinguish categories from feeds when importing data from an existing OPML file. Some assume the category is a feed, others simply ignore categories.
I haven’t used Google Reader to date so I was wondering how good it is at separating categories from feeds when importing existing OPML. I’ll test it out and see. If it can’t do it, does any other feedreader get it right?
Robert,
I agree with you that it would be useful for readers to download an OPML file.
However, in my opinion, a bigger drawback with many feedreaders is their inability to distinguish categories from feeds when importing data from an existing OPML file. Some assume the category is a feed, others simply ignore categories.
I haven’t used Google Reader to date so I was wondering how good it is at separating categories from feeds when importing existing OPML. I’ll test it out and see. If it can’t do it, does any other feedreader get it right?
Checked. It does work!
Checked. It does work!
I burned my shared items feed and then used the attached widget to display my six most recent shared headlines in the sidebar of my blog. I think the sharing angle is my favorite feature of Google reader.
I burned my shared items feed and then used the attached widget to display my six most recent shared headlines in the sidebar of my blog. I think the sharing angle is my favorite feature of Google reader.
[...] I absolutely love the shared items feature of Google Reader, which I learned about through Robert Scoble. Now Robert (and Steve Rubel and others) is saying that Google Reader is the next Digg and I’m, pretty much on board with that statement. [...]
francine, see http://googlereader.blogspot.com/2006/03/reader-learns-to-share.html
for how to get your shared items into a linkroll.
http://persistent.info/archives/2006/03/23/google-reader
also talks about it a little more (Mihai is an engineer on Google Reader), and his front page shows an example of it.
francine, see http://googlereader.blogspot.com/2006/03/reader-learns-to-share.html
for how to get your shared items into a linkroll.
http://persistent.info/archives/2006/03/23/google-reader
also talks about it a little more (Mihai is an engineer on Google Reader), and his front page shows an example of it.
Hi Robert. I’m sorry but I don’t Digg Google Reader.
Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t like it or any other web-based aggregator. It is way too slow for my liking (yes, I have broadband).
Admittedly I subscribe to thousands of filtered feeds, but I don’t have the patience (or the time) to wait for it to load.
I understand that someone like you who is on the road a lot has need for a web reader (have OPML will travel). But as for the rest of us I don’t see it as a viable option to replace desktop aggregators that can be much faster and more feature rich.
The only real advantage that I can see web-based aggregators might have is the social aspect. The other advantage would also be for retaining a history of my feeds on Google’s servers instead eating up dwindling space on my hard drive.
Nevertheless, until they can improve performance issues I will stick with my free copy of “GreatNews” which is super fast and has all of the important features that I need.
I hope that you and your family had a terrific Christmas.
Hi Robert. I’m sorry but I don’t Digg Google Reader.
Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t like it or any other web-based aggregator. It is way too slow for my liking (yes, I have broadband).
Admittedly I subscribe to thousands of filtered feeds, but I don’t have the patience (or the time) to wait for it to load.
I understand that someone like you who is on the road a lot has need for a web reader (have OPML will travel). But as for the rest of us I don’t see it as a viable option to replace desktop aggregators that can be much faster and more feature rich.
The only real advantage that I can see web-based aggregators might have is the social aspect. The other advantage would also be for retaining a history of my feeds on Google’s servers instead eating up dwindling space on my hard drive.
Nevertheless, until they can improve performance issues I will stick with my free copy of “GreatNews” which is super fast and has all of the important features that I need.
I hope that you and your family had a terrific Christmas.