Following Google’s announcement that Reader will be shuttered on July 1st, I - like most of the Internet’s voracious content-consumption/power user/geek population - went searching for a replacement. I argued right away that the new-found void left in the RSS reader space would be best filled by a new open source project to create an awesome reader that could be either self-hosted, or used as a hosted service. Given that such a product did not yet exist, I continued my search for an immediate replacement.
It’s official: Google Reader is dying. Citing declining usage, Google announced this afternoon that their RSS aggregator tool will be shut down on July 1st. It’s had a good run since its launch in 2005, but it’s time to shutter the proverbial doors.
Google also says Reader has a loyal following, which makes sense: it’s the best web-based RSS reader available, and everyone I know who uses RSS to keep up-to-date uses it.
