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This is ridiculous. How hard is it to import an OPML file into any of the other feed services that already exist on the web, or those popping up everyday. Do we

by yanw 14y ago

This is ridiculous. How hard is it to import an OPML file into any of the other feed services that already exist on the web, or those popping up everyday. Do we really need to keep regurgitating this story?! it's been dominating the front page for a week now. Here are the differences between Reader and Keep: Reader was an abandoned and an unclaimed product, kept on life support. Keep is a feature of Drive, a product which actually is acknowledged to be under someone's management I hope Evernote will exist as it is now forever and that the author won't have eat his words someday.

wslh 14y ago
> How hard is it to import an OPML into any of the other feed services that already exist on the web, or those popping up everyday. Do we really need to keep regurgitating this story? I think you have missed previous discussions about the irreplaceable parts of Google Reader. Hints: going back in time for articles that are not present in the current feed, autotranslation of posts.
ishansharma 14y ago
Well, the issue is not closing one service but how they just closed one widely used product and are keeping Google+ around, which sends less traffic around the web. Apart from that, it's about Google's departure from "we do what's best for users" to "we will keep only a few things around and kill others even if you use them daily". Personally, I never used Reader that much. Instead, I went for Feedly which used Reader as back end and Feedly is going to transition smoothly, so I am not affected. And even if they allow exporting, how long is it before they start killing other features/apps that I use? That's my(and others') concern here. Re:Microsoft, they are the favorite scapegoat for tech press. Apple, Google and everyone else is becoming next MS. ;)
jcampbell1 14y ago
Google served a giant turd sandwich to a bunch of journalists by closing Reader. Now Google is eating the shit it created. Google is going to continue eating shit until they grovel. Unfortunately for Google, no one is responsible for closing Reader, thus no one will step up to the plate and fix this PR disaster. There is a clear path to fix this mess, and I guarantee no one at Google has the humility to fix the problem.
- yanw 14y ago
  It's hardly a PR disaster or a mess needs cleaning. It's just some pissy folks that are taking a little longer to get over it. It'll pass I'm just tired of hearing about it.
  - jcampbell1 14y ago
    How long to you have to be tired of hearing about it before you admit it is a PR mess? If the Google reader closing is mentioned in new Google product announcements a month from now, will you admit this was a PR disaster? How about a year from now? Google needs to grovel to get their hands around this. By admitting mistake, they can actually redirect the message to something positive. BTW, I agree with you completely. It is trivial for me to switch services, and I am tired of hearing about it. That being said, Google is eating its own shit sandwich. Google has no one to blame but themselves.
    - yanw 14y ago
      Really, groveling? yeah if anyone mentions Reader in a month's time it will be an issue. It's not a main new story, and Google won't get anything back by reversing their decision, the damage is already done. Some people are being overly dramatic and hypersensitive, they'll realize that and they'll get over it, as always.
      - jcampbell1 14y ago
        You could be correct that this will just blow over. We shall find out. The problem is that journalists tend to follow their leader, and this was written by Om himself. If I were a gambling man, I'd bet you will be proven wrong.
      - joedevon 14y ago
        Forget about "Reader" per se. Given that Google has sunsetted so many products recently, would you bet a key part of your small business infrastructure on an Evernote-killer by Google, or would you prefer to pay a company for Evernote?
jfoutz 14y ago
It's just hard to tell what's going to stick around, and what's going to disappear. Microsoft gave you a disk, and they support a crazy amount of backwards compatibility even on the newest os. I think apple has been fairly clear, old stuff won't run on new machines. Google, just kind of turns stuff off. wave had a manager. buzz had a manager. the finance api had a manager. I get it, they need to get rid of old stuff. It just feels like a new way of doing that. People stick to windows because stuff keeps working, even if MS would rather it dies. People avoid OSX, because stuff stops working with new versions of the OS. There's nothing wrong with people abandoning google forever over little things. Frankly, I'd be super sad if i had to leave gmail, i've used it for almost 9 years, and i really love it. But, will gmail be around in 5 years? 10? For almost a decade, i was utterly convinced gmail would live forever. I'm not so sure now. What happens when google wants us to all move to NewSocialNowWaveBuzzPlus thing, and puts gmail on life support to encourage that? Is it likely? no, of course not. Is it within the realm of possibility? Yes.

by yanw 14y ago

wslh 14y ago

> How hard is it to import an OPML into any of the other feed services that already exist on the web, or those popping up everyday. Do we really need to keep regurgitating this story? I think you have missed previous discussions about the irreplaceable parts of Google Reader. Hints: going back in time for articles that are not present in the current feed, autotranslation of posts.

ishansharma 14y ago

Well, the issue is not closing one service but how they just closed one widely used product and are keeping Google+ around, which sends less traffic around the web. Apart from that, it's about Google's departure from "we do what's best for users" to "we will keep only a few things around and kill others even if you use them daily". Personally, I never used Reader that much. Instead, I went for Feedly which used Reader as back end and Feedly is going to transition smoothly, so I am not affected. And even if they allow exporting, how long is it before they start killing other features/apps that I use? That's my(and others') concern here. Re:Microsoft, they are the favorite scapegoat for tech press. Apple, Google and everyone else is becoming next MS. ;)

jcampbell1 14y ago

Google served a giant turd sandwich to a bunch of journalists by closing Reader. Now Google is eating the shit it created. Google is going to continue eating shit until they grovel. Unfortunately for Google, no one is responsible for closing Reader, thus no one will step up to the plate and fix this PR disaster. There is a clear path to fix this mess, and I guarantee no one at Google has the humility to fix the problem.

yanw 14y ago
It's hardly a PR disaster or a mess needs cleaning. It's just some pissy folks that are taking a little longer to get over it. It'll pass I'm just tired of hearing about it.
- jcampbell1 14y ago
  How long to you have to be tired of hearing about it before you admit it is a PR mess? If the Google reader closing is mentioned in new Google product announcements a month from now, will you admit this was a PR disaster? How about a year from now? Google needs to grovel to get their hands around this. By admitting mistake, they can actually redirect the message to something positive. BTW, I agree with you completely. It is trivial for me to switch services, and I am tired of hearing about it. That being said, Google is eating its own shit sandwich. Google has no one to blame but themselves.
  - yanw 14y ago
    Really, groveling? yeah if anyone mentions Reader in a month's time it will be an issue. It's not a main new story, and Google won't get anything back by reversing their decision, the damage is already done. Some people are being overly dramatic and hypersensitive, they'll realize that and they'll get over it, as always.
    - jcampbell1 14y ago
      You could be correct that this will just blow over. We shall find out. The problem is that journalists tend to follow their leader, and this was written by Om himself. If I were a gambling man, I'd bet you will be proven wrong.
    - joedevon 14y ago
      Forget about "Reader" per se. Given that Google has sunsetted so many products recently, would you bet a key part of your small business infrastructure on an Evernote-killer by Google, or would you prefer to pay a company for Evernote?

jfoutz 14y ago

It's just hard to tell what's going to stick around, and what's going to disappear. Microsoft gave you a disk, and they support a crazy amount of backwards compatibility even on the newest os. I think apple has been fairly clear, old stuff won't run on new machines. Google, just kind of turns stuff off. wave had a manager. buzz had a manager. the finance api had a manager. I get it, they need to get rid of old stuff. It just feels like a new way of doing that. People stick to windows because stuff keeps working, even if MS would rather it dies. People avoid OSX, because stuff stops working with new versions of the OS. There's nothing wrong with people abandoning google forever over little things. Frankly, I'd be super sad if i had to leave gmail, i've used it for almost 9 years, and i really love it. But, will gmail be around in 5 years? 10? For almost a decade, i was utterly convinced gmail would live forever. I'm not so sure now. What happens when google wants us to all move to NewSocialNowWaveBuzzPlus thing, and puts gmail on life support to encourage that? Is it likely? no, of course not. Is it within the realm of possibility? Yes.