I'm not so sure it had a large following (do you really think it had as many users as say, G-Mail?). However, it is clear that it had a very _vocal_ following,

I'm not so sure it had a large following (do you really think it had as many users as say, G-Mail?). However, it is clear that it had a very _vocal_ following, and many of the people who used Reader were people who used it to follow developments in the tech world (e.g., bloggers and journalists), and hence, had a very loud megaphone to complain when it went away. There were also a large number of other RSS web readers; some web based, some app based, some desktop based. The claim the lack of interest in RSS today is due to Google Reader's withdrawl just isn't backed up by the facts. In fact, I think the cause and the effect are mixed up here. I'm pretty sure that if RSS had managed to achieve mass market appeal, Google Reader would have very likely stuck around.