Google Reader is going to go into retirement.
It was a message Google slipped into a blog post about coming changes to its services Wednesday, in what it called “spring cleaning.”
“While the product has a loyal following, over the years usage has declined. So, on July 1, 2013, we will retire Google Reader,” the company wrote.
Apparently quite a few people are still using reader. The outcry about its demise was swift and loud, with thousands of users expressing displeasure about the decision on Twitter. (Mixed in with even more comments about Pope Francis.)
Here’s a sampling:
Google is getting rid of Google Reader?! Why google, why :(.
Google Reader is going to go into retirement.
It was a message Google slipped into a blog post about coming changes to its services Wednesday, in what it called “spring cleaning.”
“While the product has a loyal following, over the years usage has declined. So, on July 1, 2013, we will retire Google Reader,” the company wrote.
Apparently quite a few people are still using reader. The outcry about its demise was swift and loud, with thousands of users expressing displeasure about the decision on Twitter. (Mixed in with even more comments about Pope Francis.)
Here’s a sampling:
Google is getting rid of Google Reader?! Why google, why :(.
— Ben Unyolo (@BenUnyolo) March 14, 2013
Look, I know there are plenty of good (and probably better) alternatives to Google Reader out there, but just LET ME GRIEVE, OK
— Theresa Couchman (@theresa_lauren) March 14, 2013
#Google is retiring its #Reader in July. Please don’t take away this valuable tool. #BeggingOnKnees
— Jane Smith (@ExtraStepBlog) March 14, 2013
Users also started a petition to keep the service going at change.org.
For those not using Google Reader, the free RSS feed allows users to get all the headlines from their favourite news sites or blogs in a single list, as new stories are posted. Readers can then click on the headlines that interest them to read the full story. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s a good way to make sense of a large amount of content and the service is popular with journalists and other users who need to filter through a large volume of daily headlines.
New aggregating services, such as Twitter, aren’t as useful, users argued.
Google Reader is to Twitter as a well-labeled filing cabinet is to a bag of insane cats.
— Scott Stein (@jetscott) March 14, 2013
The decision appeared to be an unnecessary one, wrote tech site Mashable reporter Chris Taylor. “There was absolutely no need to kill this product, and all it has done is irk many thousands of Google’s most vocal and prominent users.”