4 ms·

Ease of use. Not everybody wants to setup an RSS reader (or knows what one is).

weland 12y ago
But setting up an RSS reader is no different from installing any application. For crying out loud, that means going to an app store for much of the RSS-reading Internet or clicking next, next and finish for the rest of it. I know I sound like an elitist schmuck when I say it, but I'm increasingly starting to think all this ease-of-use thing is getting a bit out of hand. If there are people are willing to sacrifice performance (Google Reader's UI was slower than Liferea's first versions, and that's something!), privacy and reliability (an installed RSS reader does always work, as opposed to a public, remote service, ran by an advertising company) just because clicking "Install" is hard for them, I honestly wish all these bad, evil companies they're outraged about mine the shit out of them, from their eye color to the size of their underwear. I get legitimate cases (e.g. you're behind company firewall and you're on your work computer so you can't install anything), but installing a program really shouldn't be a difficult task otherwise.
- edanm 12y ago
  While I get the sentiment, I'm thankful that you don't run the world. Most computer users forget that they have years and years of experience with computers, because they actually played with computers for their own fun for years. So the things that seem drop-dead simple for them are drop-dead simple if you have years of experience. I'm certainly thankful my doctor has never told me "you know, if you can't be bothered to understand biology, I'll just let the diseases kill you", when he has 7+ years of knowledge that I don't.
  - lelandbatey 12y ago
    We're not committing our users to death. All we're asking is that they learn how to put on a bandaid.
    - marrs 12y ago
      I think this is a common attitude today in all walks of life. We seem to be incapable of thinking for ourselves now, whether when using a computer or crossing the street. I'm amazed that we're still allowed to drive cars.
      - loup-vaillant 12y ago
        Don't worry, soon, we won't. Just wait for the statistics to show autonomous cars are safer, legislation will soon follow. Give it 20, 30 years tops.
  - weland 12y ago
    > Most computer users forget that they have years and years of experience with computers, because they actually played with computers for their own fun for years. The fact that pretty much any user who reads RSS feeds uses applications that do not come with the operating system by default is, I think, proof enough that installing an application is really not that difficult. Being one, I get why Slackware users have issues with that (hhehe) but we're really not talking about a complex maintenance issue here...
- acheron 12y ago
  I don't want to use a standalone RSS reader any more than a standalone email client. There's a reason everybody [1] switched to webmail. In any case, a web RSS reader that I run myself (tt-rss or similar) is a pretty good compromise. [1] Yes, person who is about to reply, I know you personally didn't.
  - tbrownaw 12y ago
    There's a reason everybody [1] switched to webmail. No, "everybody" uses Outlook because corporate IT likes how all the microsoft stuff integrates with itself. Everybody also apparently uses their phones for email now, which I understand tends to use installed apps rather than the web browser. [1] Yes, person who is about to reply, I know you personally didn't. Right, ignore and marginalize all the people who have counterexamples to your claims.
    - zwieback 12y ago
      I actually use Outlook as an RSS reader. It's not very good but it works and that way everything is in one place. Also, I think Outlook is much better than any other mail/calendar client I've ever used. I read HN, Reuters, Re/Code, Atlantic and New Yorker in Outlook. I love the mostly text-only experience and am finding that I read content in a less prejudiced way when all the color distraction is gone.
  - weland 12y ago
    > I don't want to use a standalone RSS reader any more than a standalone email client. There's a reason everybody switched to webmail. I do use a standalone client. IMAP is nice enough with the messages and I don't mix my personal and work contacts, so the addressbooks are easy to sync. Unfortunately, save for Roundcube, which sucks in moderation, I'm not aware of any single webmail client that doesn't suck. The same goes for my RSS feeds, but I do have a setup that is probably hard to replicate for someone who doesn't work with computers for a living, so that doesn't count in the argument :-). P.S.: I actually use webmail for work account because IT hates me. It's not too bothersome. The only thing stopping me from migrating my personal accounts to their respective webmail interfaces is not being able to import my abook contacts :-).
amirmc 12y ago
Also, sync. Reading from multiple devices is frustrating if the read/favourite history isn't carried over.
- Maakuth 12y ago
  This, very much. I often read my feeds while commuting, walking, waiting, etc. with a phone or a tablet. Then I read with one PC or another. If the reads wouldn't be synced, a lot of time would be spent just skipping the posts I've already seen.
- weland 12y ago
  Ah, yes, this is nice indeed.
Dylan16807 12y ago
Plus Google Reader had some pretty magic features like adding an RSS feed and getting years of history because it already knew about it.
- caoilte 12y ago
  One of the biggest features still missing from my chosen replacement (feedly).

But setting up an RSS reader is no different from installing any application. For crying out loud, that means going to an app store for much of the RSS-reading Internet or clicking next, next and finish for the rest of it. I know I sound like an elitist schmuck when I say it, but I'm increasingly starting to think all this ease-of-use thing is getting a bit out of hand. If there are people are willing to sacrifice performance (Google Reader's UI was slower than Liferea's first versions, and that's something!), privacy and reliability (an installed RSS reader does always work, as opposed to a public, remote service, ran by an advertising company) just because clicking "Install" is hard for them, I honestly wish all these bad, evil companies they're outraged about mine the shit out of them, from their eye color to the size of their underwear. I get legitimate cases (e.g. you're behind company firewall and you're on your work computer so you can't install anything), but installing a program really shouldn't be a difficult task otherwise.

edanm 12y ago
While I get the sentiment, I'm thankful that you don't run the world. Most computer users forget that they have years and years of experience with computers, because they actually played with computers for their own fun for years. So the things that seem drop-dead simple for them are drop-dead simple if you have years of experience. I'm certainly thankful my doctor has never told me "you know, if you can't be bothered to understand biology, I'll just let the diseases kill you", when he has 7+ years of knowledge that I don't.
- lelandbatey 12y ago
  We're not committing our users to death. All we're asking is that they learn how to put on a bandaid.
  - marrs 12y ago
    I think this is a common attitude today in all walks of life. We seem to be incapable of thinking for ourselves now, whether when using a computer or crossing the street. I'm amazed that we're still allowed to drive cars.
    - loup-vaillant 12y ago
      Don't worry, soon, we won't. Just wait for the statistics to show autonomous cars are safer, legislation will soon follow. Give it 20, 30 years tops.
- weland 12y ago
  > Most computer users forget that they have years and years of experience with computers, because they actually played with computers for their own fun for years. The fact that pretty much any user who reads RSS feeds uses applications that do not come with the operating system by default is, I think, proof enough that installing an application is really not that difficult. Being one, I get why Slackware users have issues with that (hhehe) but we're really not talking about a complex maintenance issue here...
acheron 12y ago
I don't want to use a standalone RSS reader any more than a standalone email client. There's a reason everybody [1] switched to webmail. In any case, a web RSS reader that I run myself (tt-rss or similar) is a pretty good compromise. [1] Yes, person who is about to reply, I know you personally didn't.
- tbrownaw 12y ago
  There's a reason everybody [1] switched to webmail. No, "everybody" uses Outlook because corporate IT likes how all the microsoft stuff integrates with itself. Everybody also apparently uses their phones for email now, which I understand tends to use installed apps rather than the web browser. [1] Yes, person who is about to reply, I know you personally didn't. Right, ignore and marginalize all the people who have counterexamples to your claims.
  - zwieback 12y ago
    I actually use Outlook as an RSS reader. It's not very good but it works and that way everything is in one place. Also, I think Outlook is much better than any other mail/calendar client I've ever used. I read HN, Reuters, Re/Code, Atlantic and New Yorker in Outlook. I love the mostly text-only experience and am finding that I read content in a less prejudiced way when all the color distraction is gone.
- weland 12y ago
  > I don't want to use a standalone RSS reader any more than a standalone email client. There's a reason everybody switched to webmail. I do use a standalone client. IMAP is nice enough with the messages and I don't mix my personal and work contacts, so the addressbooks are easy to sync. Unfortunately, save for Roundcube, which sucks in moderation, I'm not aware of any single webmail client that doesn't suck. The same goes for my RSS feeds, but I do have a setup that is probably hard to replicate for someone who doesn't work with computers for a living, so that doesn't count in the argument :-). P.S.: I actually use webmail for work account because IT hates me. It's not too bothersome. The only thing stopping me from migrating my personal accounts to their respective webmail interfaces is not being able to import my abook contacts :-).

amirmc 12y ago

Also, sync. Reading from multiple devices is frustrating if the read/favourite history isn't carried over.

Maakuth 12y ago
This, very much. I often read my feeds while commuting, walking, waiting, etc. with a phone or a tablet. Then I read with one PC or another. If the reads wouldn't be synced, a lot of time would be spent just skipping the posts I've already seen.
weland 12y ago
Ah, yes, this is nice indeed.

Dylan16807 12y ago

Plus Google Reader had some pretty magic features like adding an RSS feed and getting years of history because it already knew about it.

caoilte 12y ago
One of the biggest features still missing from my chosen replacement (feedly).