Google’s new feed reader is neat. Very neat.
Okay, it’s not new any more, but in the few weeks it’s been out I’ve been able to give it a real test drive. After my unnecessarily long rant about life, the universe and feed readers back in July I decided to give Google another go.
My main requirements for a decent feed reader are straightforward but demanding:
- It’s got to be FAST. And I mean fast. This thing is going to be used several times a day, every day. Any delay/slowness is a negative and will be noticed! Google’s reader is quick, responsive and elegantly handles large numbers of feeds. We’re assuming here that I already have a browser open (which I do, nearly always). Even better – because the application is always running (when you think about it…) it already has my unread items ready before I’ve even opened it. Compare this to desktop readers, where you have to wait.
- The less clicks the better. So showing all unread feeds in a single view is a plus. I just scroll down with Google (you can also use keyboard shortcuts).
- It needs to be reliable. No complaints here yet.
These sound like any web-based aggregator would do, but I could never get on with Bloglines and other comparable web-apps. Google Reader hits the sweet spot, and I can highly recommend it.
I have further thoughts on the Reader. As soon as these fall out of my head I’ll be sure to post them.