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People don't understand how much RSS is useful... I'm still angry at Google for killing Reader. It was the best way to consume content on the web.

Semaphor 3y ago
> I'm still angry at Google for killing Reader. It was the best way to consume content on the web. I’m happy, it lead to an explosion of available readers, including many self-hosted ones.
- jjgreen 3y ago
  Walkers did the same with their crisps ("chips" for left-ponders), made them healthy by reducing the fat content, disgusting, like eating dried leaves. End result: a wealth of new crisp brands and people keen to try them. My favourite, Salty Dog [1], couldn't have happened without Walkers pissing on their own chips ("fries" for left-ponders). [1] https://www.saltydog-grrr.com/category/crisps https://www.saltydog-grrr.com/category/crisps
  - pmarreck 3y ago
    Did they get the memo that fat isn't really the enemy? (well, satfat still not ideal, but...)
SanjayMehta 3y ago
NetNewsWire on ios+macos+icloud for sync That’s the best solution if you’re on Apple.
- 911e 3y ago
  My man so we are at least two fans of the app
- rado 3y ago
  This is one of the best apps of any kind on any platform. It just works flawlessly.
- DHPersonal 3y ago
  I use that setup too, but I wish that NetNewsWire offered an image thumbnail in its story list.
- reddalo 3y ago
  I love NetNewsWire on my Mac, but I also use Linux and Android, so I'd love if there was something as perfect as NetNewsWire on those platforms!
dkwr 3y ago
I've installed FreshRSS which gives me nearly the same vibe and experience. Since I use it I never really missed Google Reader.
Shorel 3y ago
Without ads. And without using search. And without paying Google to push news headlines on Android devices. RSS is a menace to Google's bottom line!
- rcMgD2BwE72F 3y ago
  No. Many RSS feeds had plenty of ads, and most of them were served by Google. And many bloggers only shared headlines or cropped articles through feeds because they wanted to have visitors come to their pages and click ads. Google couldn't lose either way.
  - toldyouso2022 3y ago
    In the world of central banks Profit is not what motivates corporations.
marginalia_nu 3y ago
> I'm still angry at Google for killing Reader. It was the best way to consume content on the web. I never used Reader so I'm not genuinely curious, what about it makes it difficult for someone to just create a copy of the service?
- Kye 3y ago
  It's not about features. It's about defaults. Google Reader was linked right there on the top bar of the world's largest search engine. No one could credibly claim RSS was dead or neglect/remove support for it in the next revision.
  - zerojames 3y ago
    Thank you for sharing this! I didn't have the opportunity to use Reader. I have always wondered what made it stand out.
  - marginalia_nu 3y ago
    That doesn't really answer my question. You can put any link in the bookmarks bar of the browser and have it there in every window.
    - Kye 3y ago
      That won't make it the default for and visible to the entire world.
      - marginalia_nu 3y ago
        I don't understand why that matters? If 3 other people or a billion other people are using a RSS reading service, surely my own experience is the same.
        Kye 3y ago
        You run a search engine and don't understand why defaults matter? Google pays billions to be the default. I don't understand what you don't understand. RSS was the default. Then it "died" (became non-default) and we got the Facebook feed and Twitter's toxic impression-pumping algorithms, and it's so much worse. Journalists depended on Reader the way they came to depend on Twitter. They didn't move to another reader.
rollcat 3y ago
Since this is now the "my Reader replacement" thread: NetNewsWire, with Miniflux as the sync backend/web reader. TheOldReader.com is also very good (UI is very heavily Google Reader inspired).
JeffSnazz 3y ago
That's probably why they killed it—it gave the end user too much control over content they consume and how they consume it. And of course you can't tell what they actually read or when....
- zlg_codes 3y ago
  Isn't it possible to simply check when the request to the RSS feed is made? It won't tell you which posts the user read, or even if the user read them at the time of the request (I'm thinking caches), but it could at least tie IP or some other drive-by info to a rough idea of readership.
hexage1814 3y ago
Oh, they do understand. That's why they are moving it. It is too useful. Internet users can't have nice things.
Euphorbium 3y ago
I have never, and never will forgive them for that, but inoreader is better.
BizarreByte 3y ago
> People don't understand how much RSS is useful.. I understand RSS completely and the goals, but honestly? I don't find it useful at all. I'm always surprised how many people on HN claim to still use it.

Semaphor 3y ago

> I'm still angry at Google for killing Reader. It was the best way to consume content on the web. I’m happy, it lead to an explosion of available readers, including many self-hosted ones.

jjgreen 3y ago
Walkers did the same with their crisps ("chips" for left-ponders), made them healthy by reducing the fat content, disgusting, like eating dried leaves. End result: a wealth of new crisp brands and people keen to try them. My favourite, Salty Dog [1], couldn't have happened without Walkers pissing on their own chips ("fries" for left-ponders). [1] https://www.saltydog-grrr.com/category/crisps https://www.saltydog-grrr.com/category/crisps
- pmarreck 3y ago
  Did they get the memo that fat isn't really the enemy? (well, satfat still not ideal, but...)

SanjayMehta 3y ago

NetNewsWire on ios+macos+icloud for sync That’s the best solution if you’re on Apple.

911e 3y ago
My man so we are at least two fans of the app
rado 3y ago
This is one of the best apps of any kind on any platform. It just works flawlessly.
DHPersonal 3y ago
I use that setup too, but I wish that NetNewsWire offered an image thumbnail in its story list.
reddalo 3y ago
I love NetNewsWire on my Mac, but I also use Linux and Android, so I'd love if there was something as perfect as NetNewsWire on those platforms!

dkwr 3y ago

I've installed FreshRSS which gives me nearly the same vibe and experience. Since I use it I never really missed Google Reader.

Shorel 3y ago

Without ads. And without using search. And without paying Google to push news headlines on Android devices. RSS is a menace to Google's bottom line!

rcMgD2BwE72F 3y ago
No. Many RSS feeds had plenty of ads, and most of them were served by Google. And many bloggers only shared headlines or cropped articles through feeds because they wanted to have visitors come to their pages and click ads. Google couldn't lose either way.
- toldyouso2022 3y ago
  In the world of central banks Profit is not what motivates corporations.

marginalia_nu 3y ago

> I'm still angry at Google for killing Reader. It was the best way to consume content on the web. I never used Reader so I'm not genuinely curious, what about it makes it difficult for someone to just create a copy of the service?

Kye 3y ago
It's not about features. It's about defaults. Google Reader was linked right there on the top bar of the world's largest search engine. No one could credibly claim RSS was dead or neglect/remove support for it in the next revision.
- zerojames 3y ago
  Thank you for sharing this! I didn't have the opportunity to use Reader. I have always wondered what made it stand out.
- marginalia_nu 3y ago
  That doesn't really answer my question. You can put any link in the bookmarks bar of the browser and have it there in every window.
  - Kye 3y ago
    That won't make it the default for and visible to the entire world.
    - marginalia_nu 3y ago
      I don't understand why that matters? If 3 other people or a billion other people are using a RSS reading service, surely my own experience is the same.
      - Kye 3y ago
        You run a search engine and don't understand why defaults matter? Google pays billions to be the default. I don't understand what you don't understand. RSS was the default. Then it "died" (became non-default) and we got the Facebook feed and Twitter's toxic impression-pumping algorithms, and it's so much worse. Journalists depended on Reader the way they came to depend on Twitter. They didn't move to another reader.

rollcat 3y ago

Since this is now the "my Reader replacement" thread: NetNewsWire, with Miniflux as the sync backend/web reader. TheOldReader.com is also very good (UI is very heavily Google Reader inspired).

JeffSnazz 3y ago

That's probably why they killed it—it gave the end user too much control over content they consume and how they consume it. And of course you can't tell what they actually read or when....

zlg_codes 3y ago
Isn't it possible to simply check when the request to the RSS feed is made? It won't tell you which posts the user read, or even if the user read them at the time of the request (I'm thinking caches), but it could at least tie IP or some other drive-by info to a rough idea of readership.

hexage1814 3y ago

Oh, they do understand. That's why they are moving it. It is too useful. Internet users can't have nice things.

Euphorbium 3y ago

I have never, and never will forgive them for that, but inoreader is better.

BizarreByte 3y ago

> People don't understand how much RSS is useful.. I understand RSS completely and the goals, but honestly? I don't find it useful at all. I'm always surprised how many people on HN claim to still use it.