That's an interesting point you are making. I can't rule that possibilty out, but I have also never seen evidence that suggested they created Reader with that

That's an interesting point you are making. I can't rule that possibilty out, but I have also never seen evidence that suggested they created Reader with that intent. Can't it be that Google tried to push adoption of a technology, believing that it would benefit them in the future? Or that they believed that they would come up with a business model, given enough users. You are right to be critical about startups without viable business - so am I - but don't forget: Google was that kind of startup for a few years