If you still haven't hopped on the bandwagon...
One day, when our beloved family dog Chelsea (RIP) was still a little puppy, we got her a new chew-toy. It was in the shape of a rolled-up newspaper, and when we first showed it to her, we got no reaction. She just stared as it as if to say, "Um, why should I care?" But then we squeezed it, and the little squeak inside went off and...I wish there were words to accurately describe her reaction, but she went freaking nuts. Her eyes widened impossibly, her head actually shook in a kind of cartoonish double-take, and she seemed to say, "OH! MY! GOD! IT! SQUEAKS!"
I think of this story whenever there's a small amount of time between the point when someone is first shown something which they can't really get too excited about and the full realization of all the wonders it holds. I've seen this twice in the past couple of weeks, both with the Google Reader. My sister and my coworker Vinnie both kind of shrugged when they first heard about it, saying (more or less), "That seems great, but it would take too long to set up and I'm not really sure how I'd use it." Then I squeaked it for them and their eyes widened impossibly and their heads shook in a kind of cartoonish double-take, and now they can't get enough, spending hours a day on it, but hours less than they would surfing around to all the sites they want to check.
So for the absolute very last time: get on a reader. And if you get on Google and decide to share your links (like I do over on the right and this subscribe-able page), please let me know your shared page, because I want to know. Because I care like that.
As an extra-added bonus for those of you who own a domain, you NEED Google Apps For Your Domain. It's an awkward name, but an awesome tool.
Maybe one day, when Google has taken over the earth and is ruling with an iron fist and not a helping hand, I'll regret this propaganda post. But until the whips and slavery, let's enjoy it all to the fullest, huh?
8 comments:
Are you getting a kick back?! ;) I read my web sites the same way I listen to my records and compact discs...the old fashioned/outdated way...AS GOD AND NATURE INTENDED! (Ok ok, maybe one day I"ll let you show me what exactly a reader is and what it can do to improve my already near-perfect existence...)
Christian, you just need your chew-toy squeaked. If you know what I mean.
There's two reasons for this post. The first was just seeing how much two people (one of whom is already in the technical field) got out of something that they never really figured the need for. So I thought I'd pass it on.
The other reason is totally selfish. I thought what if everyone I knew had a share page? Then I could see tons of amazing stuff that I had never thought of before, and all they would have to do is hit a button instead of sending it via email? The sharing feature was the only reason I switched from Bloglines to the Google Reader, and I love it.
Oh, I forgot to mention that the reason that I mentioned Google Apps For Your Domain is because I just set it up so that now anyone can write to me at anything(at)areseven.com. I would say that you should keep it nice like "reidy@" or "thebestdrummer@", but knowing you bunch, it's inevitable that I'll get "jerkface@" or "sugartits@". But that's why I love ya.
I had no idea my head could shake in a cartoonish way!
It can in the way that the Google Reader can literally squeak. ;-)
Okay, so, take someone like me, for example. No chew toy, not really into the whole squeak-fetish scene. I use Firefox and I bookmark all the pages I want to read into one folder, then I just open the whole thing in tabs and go down the line reading. Sure, I have to flip through a lot of pages that are rarely updated (you know who you are), but I see all the updates that do happen and I see them on their own pages, which is nice. Why, this one page I check daily even used to have its own jukebox!
So should I switch? Convince me.
Well, one of the parts of it is the previously-mentioned share page. I'd love it if I can have a little more of a view into what my friends are reading. That was the real reason for this post.
But as far as convincing you...it's not even so much for the personal blogs that I love the reader. You're right: those pages look better in the layout that the writer intends instead of in the reader's format. Which is why I choose to have only a partial description in the feed for my page.
But the real reason I love the reader is that it's the closest thing online to reading a newspaper. I've been getting my news online for years now, but every time I read an actual newspaper, I realize that it's a great way to get news that you wouldn't otherwise. The tendency with online is that you only read what you already know you're interested in, and you miss out a lot.
So with the reader, I've subscribed to tons of pages that I wouldn't otherwise look at regularly. And like with a newspaper, more often than not, I scan the headline, but don't read the full article. I have probably about 100 feeds, and I'll scroll through them every morning, getting tons of information I wouldn't look at otherwise.
Additionally, there are feeds for more than just blogs. You can get feeds for Hype Machine, You Tube and Digg, who can tell you what's new in certain categories. And even if you look at sites like that ever day, you'll inevitably miss a few days, and then miss the posts. With a reader, those are still there for you.
It may seem unnecessary, but it's completely changed the way I look at the web. I still read personal blogs on the actual sites, but as far as news and features and staying on top of exactly what you want to stay on top of...a reader can't be beat.
I've been using Google Reader for a few months, and I've gotten hooked. To the extent that I've had to limit the number of feeds I subscribe to, because I have this pathological need to make my "All Items" read 0.
My Shared page is here.
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