Is it time to give up on RSS Feed Readers? Since the demise of Google Reader, I have been scrambling from one alternative to another, trying to find the same reliability of service I had with Google Reader. I have tried Feedly and Newsblur, only to be gravely disappointed with bugs and malfunctions, especially with my tablet applications. Perhaps it’s time I let go of my wanting to read reliable RSS feed information. There just doesn’t seem to be a reliable product available for those of us who are used these services in order to stay connected to the most current news stories.
When Google decided to let go of Google Reader, I honestly did find myself lost, without a reliable connection with those blogs that I follow on a regular basis. Google Reader was one of the first applications I accessed after booting up my computer each morning. Now, I do not find the same reliability in the same RSS feed reader offerings. The problem from my perspective is that there has not been a reliable RSS feed reader to step forward since Google Reader’s demise. I tried Feedly for a period of time but its bugs regarding the display of feeds drove me crazy. Then, I tried NewsBlur, even paying for a subscription because I was impressed with my trial runs. Unfortunately, the iOS app through my iPad has made RSS feed reading so miserable, I am on the verge of giving up being able to read RSS feeds forever. It has crashed multiple times, to the point I am entirely unable to use the app.
This all leads me to my final question. Is it time for us to give up hope on relying on the RSS reading experience altogether? There just doesn’t seem to be a reliable product that makes RSS reading easy any more. Maybe RSS feed reading is a fossil of the past. Perhaps it is time to give up on the expectation that we can use this technology to collect that information that we want to read.
My experiences with the constant bugs and crashes of Feedly and Newsblur have made me think that perhaps it is time to give up the hope of finding a reliable RSS feed reading experience? I have been able to let go of other technologies that have become obsolete. Perhaps RSS feed reading has outlived its usefulness too.
J. Robinson has decades of experience as a K12 Principal, Teacher, and Technology Advocate. Read more at The 21st Century Principal.
