In years to come March 13, 2013 will be looked upon in history as a significant day. Not because of a new Pope being selected no, but because of the massive freakout started over Google’s announced ending of life for Google Reader.Just look at what people are saying on Twitter.
Example:
Two weeks of no Pope: baby cured of HIV; breath test for cancer; saltwater found on moon of Jupiter. Day One with Pope: Google Reader dies.
Dear Google: I’m not “very sad” that Google Reader is being retired. I’m damned irritated.
To me it’s typical overreaction to technological changes and advances. Google is a corporation. They must answer to their shareholders and the bottomline. Google Reader was impossible for them to monetize and they knew it. That’s why they are moving on. You should too. Google never owned or controlled RSS which is what Google Reader uses to provide your feeds in a manageable collection. Yes they gain data by us adding our feeds to Reader, but they couldn’t control ads consistently which is where their real motivation is. Google shelled out lots of money for the development of Google+ which people are really not grasping. I think this tweet sums that up completely:
Wow, quite the chart: Doomed Google Reader still drives far more traffic than G+ bit.ly/YbAG9V
As tech junkies we scream for the next big thing and when the next big thing appears we react negatively. We are afraid of change in our routines no matter what good it brings. This only spurs innovation. Just look at the alternatives out there. The little guys can now show their innovation. I credit Google for letting others take this content syndication over. Take a deep breath people. All is well. You’ll be okay.
There’s an alternative to that:
Feedly – They already have a post about transitioning.
The Old Reader – Looks just like the old reader.
And more…