Google Reader

I am a follower of the official Gmail blog. It started when I saw a Gmail post on the Gmail site (before you login) and decided to follow it. I must say, they don't post drivel on that blog. It's all pretty useful stuff. So I pretty much frequented the Gmail blog and learned new useful stuff about my Gmail with every new post they posted there. That was also where I learned about Google Calendar and recently about Google Reader. This is the direct link to the post: http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/find-great-stuff-to-read-in-google.html. I must say that I am now hooked to Google Reader and I can't believe that I lived without this useful tool for so long.

Google Reader is a web based feed reader. Basically, this means that a feed enabled website (most websites) can be viewed through this reader as posts whenever there is an update on the website. There are a bunch of websites that I check everyday for my hobbies, entertainment and latest news. Not all these websites have updates everyday nor are most of these updates interesting to me. Before Google Reader, I would visit each of these websites everyday in search of the latest updates. Most times I would just forget about one particular website and by the time I visit it next, I have already missed several posts which are no longer relevant for today. Even if they are not time dependent, I would feel lazy to go back read each and every post that I missed. Google Reader has simplified this process by bringing all the updates to all my favourite websites to one place. I can read the new post directly in Google Reader or I can click the link and go to the website to read it. To me, it is the most useful tool since the advent of email and I would never have known about it unless I read the Gmail blog (which is now one of my many Google Reader subscriptions).

Google Reader even enables me to read posts/updates on websites that are months old. Nothing downloads to your computer because everything just loads as you scroll down to older posts...and it just keeps going. I bet that it is possible to scroll down to the very first post of any website. I find Google Reader particularly useful for reading blogs, and webcomics. Below is a screenshot of my subscriptions.


Notice that the boston.com's "The Big Picture" is a feed that is not updated everyday; but when they do post(usually thrice a week), it is not a post to miss. I also find it useful to follow webcomics which I am a fan of. Some comics update everyday while others update only once a week. So instead of wasting time (I consider reading comics a waste of time) everyday checking the websites to see if there is an update, I just check my Google Reader to see if there are any new updates on the websites. Since the essence of the comic is in the post itself, there is no need to visit the website because I can just read the comic from Google Reader itself.


A word of caution though. When you first sign up for Google Reader, you will be given the option to subscribe to a bunch of "recommended websites" which I maintain are crap. Not only are they useless, they would intimidate you with hundreds of unread posts which you might be compelled to read, get frustrated with the volume and ditch Google Reader as a result. Just start with a clean slate go to your favourite website (eg. abstrusegoose.com) and click the following icon:In other websites, there might not be an icon. It might just say "RSS", "RSS feed" or "Atom feed". So long as you are able to subscribe to the feeds, you can add it to Google Reader. Click the Google icon:If it does not appear, just choose Google from the list of readers. It will then give you the option of adding it to your Google homepage or Google reader. Choose Google Reader and you are all set! Try Google Reader on a few webcomics (it's the best way to test it out) to start off and then decide whether to make Google Reader a part of your life.