I’m loving the whole blog thing. I’m a newcomer to having my own blog, but I’ve set up a number of blogs for clients and I’m an avid consumer of other people’s online thoughts – that’s largely how I pay attention to the people I pay attention to (see sidebar).
The one drawback is that I haven’t found a really good reader, a tool that will systematically aggregate the content of my favourite blogs and present it for me in an attractive, useful and easily digestible format. Until now.
Google Reader absolutely does it for me. The G team have really delivered with this one. Just as the whole world seems to be tapping into not just the fun but the power of blogging, they have come up with a reader that is simple to set up, is true to the content it aggregates, is highly functional and is extremely well presented.
I have no allegiance to any particular product or service provider – I pick and choose and use what works best on my computer. I don’t care if it comes from Microsoft, Apple, open source, Yahoo, Google or Kevin down the road. I do think about what I use (especially if I have to buy it) and I’m a firm believer in ethical behaviour. On all counts, Google Reader looks good.
There are ‘ifs’ (you need a Google account) and ‘buts’ (there’s no indicator as to whether a post has any comments at the source site), but on the whole this is the best feed reader I’ve come across.
So far. See for yourself.