Google Reader, Revisited

A recent post on 3 Great Ways To Read Your Google Reader Feeds [via AL Direct] reminded me that I should revisit the topic of Google Reader.

Four years ago (almost exactly) I wrote about my first experiences with Google Reader. I was not a happy camper. I had some colloquy with colleagues about tips and techniques for using Google Reader. I tried a second time, and was still unhappy. I remained a Bloglines user for a long time. Well, Bloglines essentially went away.

I now use Google Reader, pretty exclusively, to follow the 164 blogs that I care about.

I think Google Reader has changed some. What else has changed is that I now use Gmail for most of my personal email. It has the handy little link which will automatically open Google Reader. That makes it incredibly easy to read the blogs. As a result, I am very caught up, and don't mind (as much) the assumption that you want to read the latest posting first. I have set several up (manually) to post with the oldest first, and - for now - I am content.

I ran across my posts, and realized that I should "fess up" to having been converted, later rather than sooner.

Google Reader Redux

Steven Cohen at Library Stuff picked up on my frustration with Google Reader. He and the other commenters are correct, you can read the oldest first, but only if you choose that option under view settings....feed by feed. You can not set that as the universal default. Even Google's help says that it is done feed by feed.

If I were starting from scratch, it would be a pain, but not a real problem.

I am importing 174 feeds from Bloglines. I have neither the time nor the inclination to tweak a setting (involving multiple clicks) for that many feeds.

Google Reader has lost me for now, and whatever problems Bloglines has, I will deal with them.

[And it may be a network problem at my end, or the fact I use Firefox, but Google Reader loads noticeably more slowly than Bloglines.]

Google Reader? I think NOT

I've been reading through my Bloglines subscriptions about folks who are in love with Google Reader. I exported my list from Bloglines, and imported it into Google Reader.

Here is where my problem is, and it seems to be the way that Google, and many other web services work, that it assumes that I always want to see the newest item first. Well, maybe I am too concrete-sequential, or anal-retentive, or obsessive-compulsive, but, here is a news flash folks: I don't want to read that way! I want to be able to logically follow a thread and have the OLDEST ITEM FIRST!

To do this in Google Reader, as best I can tell, you have to change the settings for each feed. With the number of feeds I have, that just is not happening.

Bottom line: Google Reader needs to become more Web 2.0 before they will capture me. I'll note that I harbor some resentment over being forced into switching to "new Blogger" and creating a "Google Account" (like I need another account on the web!).