Friday, October 07, 2005

Google Reader

Another day, another new service from you friendly neighbourhood Google. The release of the new Google Reader, a web based RSS feed reader, has suprised some by not being as highly integrated into their existing GMail service as expected...


The new Google Reader interface

There does seem to be some initial teething problems, perhaps due to unexpected load, the application is painfully slow, and importing from OPML files doesn't seem to work. That said, while integration into GMail is minimal, reportedly Blogger has been imuch more closely tied into the interface, so long as you've linked your Blogger and Google accounts together. I haven't, so can't really test this feature very easily.

My initial reaction is so-so, although to be honest I haven't really given it a thorough work out yet, the slowness of the interface is putting me off...

Update: Blogger Buzz has more...

Update: According to Slashdot, Google Reader was launched at the O'Reilly Web 2.0 Conference, which I guess explains why it blind-sided the rest of us, and why the interface is so damn slow right now...

Update: The Unofficial Google Blog probably has the first proper review of the new service I've seen so far, and they aren't very complimentary. Looks like for once Google wasn't kidding about it being a beta release.

Update: The problems with OPML import, and the general slow interface have been cleared up, at least according to Jason Shellen. However while things do seem a lot faster, I still can't import my feed subscriptions from NetNewsWire at all, so your milage may vary...

Update: C.K. Sample isn't impressed, and I think I sort of agree with him. Even once you get it to work, the Google Reader interface just isn't particularly usable compared to something like NetNewsWire...

Update: The official announcement via the Google Blog...

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