Slashdot Mirror
The Old Reader To Close Public Site In Two Weeks (Unless It Doesn't)
An anonymous reader writes "When Google first announced Google Reader would be shut down, the news kick-started a very competitive race to create the best alternative. At least one service, however, did not welcome the change, and is now planning to close up shop next month: The Old Reader. In fact, if you navigate to the service's homepage now, you'll be greeted by this sad message: "Unfortunately we had to disable user registration at The Old Reader." In two weeks, the public site will be shut down and a private one, available to a select few (accounts will be migrated automatically), will take its place." An update on the story says "We have received a number of proposals that we are discussing right now. Chances are high that public The Old Reader will live after all," so a reprieve may be possible.
If you're going to attempt such a blatant slashvertisement-disquised-as-a-story, at least tell us what the fuck "The Old Reader" *is*.
I presume it's yet another RSS-reader similar to Google Reader, like so many others out there??
I enjoy using The Old Reader - I also just happened to hear about them closing up shop this morning, however it wasn't communicated well unless you read their blog. I'm happy this was posted up on Slashdot as it draws attention to the issue that they were considering shutting down their servers. This is news that matters to me.
I've been using The Old Reader ever since it was first announced that Google Reader was shutting down. I checked out all the options I knew about and decided to go with The Old Reader as they seemed to support my needs the best. My needs are basic; I follow a few blogs and their comments. That's it. This past weekend, they had major hardware issues and ended up being down for nearly three days. No problem, I thought. Growing pains. I'll stick with them. Yesterday, they had a couple of intermittent problems as well. No problem, I thought. I'll stick with them. Then comes the announcement on their blog. In a nutshell, "We're going private. If you're not one of our buddies, didn't sign up before March, and didn't pay, you're out." They didn't even try to retain their user base.
I don't know if I signed up before March. There's nowhere I could find my account creation date. The banner at the top of the site tells me my account won't be retained. Like I said, I joined when they first announced that Google Reader was going away. I could've sworn that was before March, but who knows?
I didn't know they were soliciting donations. You log into an RSS site and you start importing your feeds. I guess that's on me; I didn't really look beyond getting my feeds set up. Unfortunately, they didn't give me the option after the fact either.
This is a site that prided itself on being a replacement for Google Reader. They catered to the Google Reader crowd. Apparently they got quite a bit of it. Their need to upgrade their hardware is a sign of success. The hardships they outline in their blog post are growing pains. These things happen. You work through them and move on, better than you were before. When your knee-jerk reaction is to announce you're dumping the majority of your user base, I don't really care what you say after the fact nor do I care what you ultimately decide. I've already been tagged as expendable. I don't want to find myself without an RSS site the next time one of their staff has a bad day. The Old Reader is/was a decent site. I liked the interface. I wouldn't have minded contributing if that would help. I have no qualms with being a supportive part of a community that I find value in. Unfortunately, my perceived value to The Old Reader is next to nothing and now I have no interest in supporting a site that clearly doesn't support its users.
A few of the comments on their blog directed people to inoreader.com. I easily exported my OPML from The Old Reader and was up and running on InoReader in minutes. I don't plan to go back. As near as I can tell, InoReader wants you to spread the word. They want popularity. They want users. I can't find any requests for donations.
So, yeah, out with the Old and in with the new. Devaluing your user base (or at least making it appear that way to your users) is not decent for business or your reputation.
Kind of irrelevant, but my solution is to host my own install of tt-rss: http://tt-rss.org/redmine/projects/tt-rss/wiki It's similar to reader, and works great.
I have been using The Old Reader since before Google Reader went offline.
I stuck with them through month long wanting queues, ubiquitous downtime and slow servers, and extended offline time. Thinking these guys were not amateur hobbyists doing something neat for as long as it suited them.
Then one day I am told that I did not sign up early enough, and that they are closing down because it is too much work.
I don't care if it continues publicly, I will not be using it anymore.
Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
The point is that it has all the social features that Google decided to strip out of GReader about a year before they shuttered it all together.
If you're going to attempt such a blatant slashvertisement-disquised-as-a-story, at least tell us what the fuck "The Old Reader" *is*.
I presume it's yet another RSS-reader similar to Google Reader, like so many others out there??
No, it's a video site of septuagenarians reading novels out loud.
The summary started off by talking about Google Reader (which you clearly knew what it was) and went on to talk about The Old Reader, so it's pretty clear what it is. There are these newfangled things in writing called 'context' and 'inference' which you might want to look into. They're very handy.
If you're a user of The Old Reader wondering if you really have to go back to Feedly - the answer is no, you don't. Head on over to http://www.inoreader.com/ and feel welcomed by the superb developers/support crew that are more than happy to take your feedback to create a better product.
Nobody should have to stay through a series of "We're quitting! Wait... Maybe ... No ... If only... Probably... Flip a coin" announcements about whether or not they can continue to use their RSS reader.
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with InoReader other than being a happy user.
Video meliora proboque deteriora sequor - Ovidius
I landed on Feedly after trying the Old Reader but what worries me for all of these Google Reader alternatives is that they appear to have no business model past 'get loads of people to sign up.'
I would have thought you would have had an RSS feed from them ...
I'm on NewsBlur; basic accounts are free (limited number of feeds, limited customization), a "Deluxe" account is $24 a year. It's been around for years, and the fee seems to cover his costs... (it's a one-man shop though)
With the close of google reader I switched to OwnCloud News running on my own hardware.
Pro: Not reliant on others, Con: I only have myself to blame if I go offline =)
They're just RSS readers, accessible from any device. So I can login to my account from my phone, tablet, any computer, etc. It's all hosted on the internet so you never lose anything. Settings move with you, some have really nice mobile apps, etc.