Google Reader, Google's web-based RSS Aggregator, has had a re-design and I am
impressed. It now has a look n' feel very much like Gmail, which I believe is a pointer
to this product being prepped for mainstream promotion - and/or merged with Gmail.
Probably a bit of both, as a standalone RSS Reader is always going to be needed. You'll
recall that the new Yahoo Mail Beta has RSS integrated into its email experience -
and the reason for that is quite simply to reach the 250 Million odd people that have a
Yahoo Mail account. What better way to make RSS a mainstream experience than to integrate
it into the web email platform. So I expect Google to follow suit.
Google Reader List view
You probably know that I am a huge fan of Gmail, so this new Google Reader interface was immediately a pleasure to use. I love that it automatically marks items as 'read' as you scroll. I also like the List view (very much like email), for quick scrolling, and the 'Expanded' view feels much more natural to use now. The 'sharing' functionality is excellent too - a shared clippings blog similar to Bloglines; and ability to share via email.
The new features:
I remember trying out Google Reader back in the Web 2.0 Conference last year, when it was launched. I was underwhelmed at that time, but this new design - with its Gmail-like interface, features, and speed to match - is much more impressive. Like Niall Kennedy, I hope they also integrate blog search into the Reader at some point - as well as tie into other Google services. But otherwise, Google has upped the ante in the online RSS Reader space. And also gone a long way towards matching Yahoo's email/RSS integration.
Expanded View
Update: Marshall Kirkpatrick at Techcrunch points out that Google is emphasizing the email tie-in: "Think of Google Reader as your inbox for the web."
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: New-look Google Reader Is Stunning!.
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Comments
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Stunning!??? it's o.k-
why do i have a feeling that you are a PC user...
Posted by: ron | September 28, 2006 7:02 PMI really like it too, however right now it's acting very slow for me.
One feature that Bloglines has that I hope Greader integrates is the ability to create dummy emails and have some of your subscriptions come to the reader to be handled.
For instance, I subscribe to many newsletters, but I wish I could handle them in a river of news style interface. GReader would be great for this.
Posted by: Hashim | September 28, 2006 8:07 PMOK maybe I was a little over enthusiastic, but any time Google releases a kick ass product or upgrade (as opposed to some of their 'see if it sticks to the wall' releases) - I'm happy!
And yes, I'm a PC user (just to be different).
Great point Hashim, newsletters via GReader would work well.
Posted by: Richard MacManus | September 28, 2006 8:57 PMSeems like Google put their passion into this product as well. For me, Google Search, Gmail, Google Finance (, Writely, Blogger) are the best products of Google Inc so far; the others (like Google Web Page Creator) are just like placeholders without Google soul and creativity. Impatiently waiting all of them to become stable and get much better.
Posted by: Emre Sokullu | September 28, 2006 10:39 PMJust try http://mintr.com for a real RSS 2.0 application
Posted by: Nitin Nanivadekar | September 29, 2006 5:41 AMIf by stunning you mean plain and Yahoo, circa 1998ish looking, then yea, it's stunning.
Posted by: Josh Einstein | September 29, 2006 9:38 AMwe make something called the media inbox, an RSS reader that supports video and audio feeds and podcasts. We integrate into outlook and outlook express. Here is a demo http://www.inclue.com/outlookdemo
Free at www.inclue.com Kind of curious what the crowd thinks about the future of rich content delivered via media feeds.
Posted by: nick gogerty | September 29, 2006 3:29 PMA little over enthusiastic? Your crazy. I'm a google fan too. I'm dying for them to fix google reader so I can ditch bloglines. This is closer to useable but not quite there.
Posted by: Brett | September 29, 2006 10:21 PMWow, Google keeps getting better and better everytime.
They now even have an easter egg:
http://tech.cybernetnews.com/2006/09/29/google-reader-easter-egg-found/
Posted by: mark | September 29, 2006 10:41 PMALMOST there. No hotkey to navigate between subs. If it had that, I'd be saying goodbye to bloglines.
Posted by: Tim Haynes | September 30, 2006 7:30 PMI take it back. Shift-n/shift-p to navigate subs, shift-o to open selected sub. Bye bye bloglines!
Posted by: Tim Haynes | September 30, 2006 7:31 PMI like the Google Reader, but like NewsHatch better. Slick design--just fun to use.
Posted by: Todd Finley | October 1, 2006 7:39 PMThey have done a good job, but I have seen the beta version of a very cool RSS aggregator : itsmynews.com (not accessible yet). No need to understand RSS by the way. They are focus on news and have a huge data base of media RSS. They should be live soon. Watch out for it. They have done a smart job.
Posted by: Celse | October 1, 2006 7:46 PMmuy buen articulo y diseño web muy currado
Posted by: juan | October 8, 2006 11:39 AMI like the Google Reader!
Posted by: Baig | October 11, 2006 6:43 AMIll excuse you the google myopia but I think you mean "bloglines like interface" not gmail like. In fact you could say "bloglines rip off like interface" which would be more accurate.
Posted by: fred | October 28, 2006 11:15 AM