Instead of calling this a decline I would call it a consolidation. Google Reader does everything I need a RSS reader to do. It works on my desktop and it works

Instead of calling this a decline I would call it a consolidation. Google Reader does everything I need a RSS reader to do. It works on my desktop and it works on my iPhone, need to synchronize between them since it is all on the web. All the readers I tried on the iPhone sucked and I've never seen a need to try one on the desktop. As for using twitter, Facebook, etc. for following news -- that doesn't work for me. Those kinds of services are good for news that your social circle are interested in, but for following those uniquely valuable sites a RSS reader is still essential.