[LINK] 'The End of Google Reader ...'

[Martin Barry]

$quoted_author = "David Boxall" ;
> 
> On 14/03/2013 7:41 PM, Roger Clarke wrote:
> > [Serious Question:  How long will it take Google to overtake
> > Microsoft's record for the most failed business lines in the history
> > of the world?
> > ...
> 
> IIRC, Google's model is to have a go, then abandon what doesn't work. In 
> that spirit, Reader was more of a nice try than a failed business line. 
> Come to think of it, if they didn't charge for it, can it be called a 
> business?

It's an interesting question. Much like Microsoft destroyed the web browser
market for a while, Google's play in this space basically killed off the RSS
ecosystem that existed 5 years ago. There has always remained a plethora of
desktop clients, apps and SAAS offerings but they've all been niche
offerings.

When Google killed off Reader's social features a year or so ago
alternatives that offered social features got a little boost. Then 48 hours
ago they all were thumped as refugees flailed around trying all the
alternatives.

I've been using NewsBlur.com for the last year and it's grown slowly and
organically. On Monday it had about 500 premium users and 2000 free users.
As of right now it has 3600 premium users and 20,000 free users. Those
numbers could be higher if the service had not been almost completely
unresponsive shortly after Google's announcement nor intermittently very
slow in the ensuing 48 hours. The one-man-show behind it has been struggling
to keep it running and has reduced the number of feeds available to free
users, stopped new free user signups and removed the lowest tier of premium
subscription just to get a handle on things. 

We live in interesting times...
Marty