Why I still mourn Google Reader.
This is Step Two of an experiment to validate our Minimum Viable Product using Medium. For Step One, read this.
My love affair with Google Reader started in 2006.
Gmail had brought Google Talk to us. By 2007 Gtalk had become the tool of choice for us to chat. Emotions and feelings, now routinely posted via Facebook and others of its ilk, were displayed for all to see as status messages amidst the green red, yellow and white of Google Talk.
It was around this time that I discovered Google Reader.
I quickly moved to it and said goodbye to the innumerable Firefox tabs that held everything I wanted to read. Reader’s value to me increased tenfold as I started accumulating RSS feeds — everything from Time Magazine, to the Economist, to a Wikipedia daily feed.
Reader became my go to place for everything I needed to know about the world.
But it quickly became apparent that it was going to be impossible for me to keep up with the tons of RSS feeds that I had subscribed to. Every time I looked at the 3000+ unread articles in my Reader, I had a bout of the FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). What if I missed out on that really awesome long read? I needed a way to fix this.
The answer - A curated reading list from my friends
Thankfully the solution was within Reader itself, in the form of the very under the radar feature of ‘Friends’ shared items’. When contacts from my Gtalk list shared articles on Reader, they automatically appeared in my Reader. Voila, a curated reading list from my friends!
Now I could ignore my own unmanageable RSS feeds, trusting my friends to deliver the best curated content from across the web.
And deliver they did. I spent a fraction of the time on Reader and discovered gems like XKCD.
I was in love. Google Reader was everything I wanted.
And then Google broke my heart. They shut Reader down.
Arguably, the first nail in Reader’s coffin was the integration with Google Plus, which brought with it the noise of a social network. The integration alienated core users, including me, who started scouring the web for replacements. Feedly quickly became the solution of choice, and I moved there as well, along with all my RSS feeds from Reader. But things just weren’t the same. Once again I was overburdened with the volume of feeds, FOMO reared its ugly head, and overtime Feedly became unmanageable.
Content curated for me by my friends is much better than any computer.
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This was when realized that my friends, despite all their failings (and yes, there are many) know me best. The best content I read invariably comes to me from them via email, chat, and a variety of social networks. What I needed to do now was to find a way to recreate the Reader experience — cut out all the noise and focus on the content.
The situation was desperate enough that I got off my lazy ass, and tried to hack my own Reader.
This I did by first creating a Facebook group, and then a WhatsApp group chat. Both experiments quickly failed.
The Facebook group’s notifications got lost in the hyperactive notification feed, and I had a hard time keeping track of anything on the WhatsApp group. Content became hard to find amidst all the discussions that were sparked. A quick scroll through draws attention to comments and opinions, rather than the actual content.
The design of a social network invariably prioritizes communication. It takes focus away from the content.
So here I am, 2 years after Google Reader’s official demise, still mourning.
So, this is my question to you Mediumfolk.
- Do you find it tough to keep track of something you love, just because there are way too many sources throwing stuff at you?
- If yes, do you want a solution?
You only need to read on if you you answer yes to both questions.
Now for the few who have read on, here’s the solution we are building.
- Cubeit is a mobile application
- Which allows you to create a collaborative collection and add anything you want with a few taps. (Seriously, any content.)
- Content is instantly synced across users.
- And converted into cards which are more usable on your phone.
- Everything is saved, organized and easily searchable.
How does this solve my problem?
I’ll give you my example. I’m a football fan and a follower of Manchester United (Glory Glory Man United). I spend upwards of an hour everyday following news, plotting new formations, and drafting advice to Louis Van Gaal. I get the latest about United from a variety of sources — Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, and a variety of news apps, but FOMO still haunts me. What if I missed the latest transfer news?
The answer?
Crowd source using Cubeit and my United obsessed friend network.
I create a shared collection on Cubeit, and add friends and fellow United fans. Any content they come across (video, image, link) can be shared to Cubeit in a few taps. At the same time the quality of content is much better.
So much win.
Why spend time finding content, when others will do it for me?
Now here’s where we ask for something.
We’ve explained another way in which Cubeit can make your life easier. What we need from you to validate this hypothesis (remember this is Step Two of our Minimum Viable Product validation), is to recommend AND share this post on one of your networks.
Why? If the experiment succeeds, that means we build features into Cubeit which will enable you to have the best possible experience, focusing on shared content. If not, then in tune with the spirit of experimentation, we go back to the drawing board, rework our hypothesis and try again.
Over to you guys.
PS: As promised, here’s the cutest cat on the internet to spur you into action.
PS:
Step 1 of this post is here, and Step 3 is here. Do check them out!
