[samspot]

RSS was a literal life changer when I first discovered it. Instead of going to the 5-10 websites I frequented to look for new stories throughout the day, I could check my reader when I took a break and stay up to date on everything. It probably cut my surfing time by 90% or more.

Additionally RSS allows me to follow far more things than would normally be possible. Instead of 10 I have 100, including things that don't update even every month.

Previously the discussion was always about how to make RSS usable for the masses, but I suppose this problem was never solved. Social media seems to work for some people, but it isn't the same. I can only count a handful of times in the last decade that I site I was interested in didn't have an RSS feed. It is practically universal. Facebook does indeed have a lot of people, but there is also the constant friend spam, and the algorithmic filtering to worry about.

When I look at the alternatives to Google Reader, it is clear that many of them don't get me. They are focused on content discovery, but i want to do is Keep Track. I don't want to miss a word from my favorite sources, and I need my reader to hold on to their words until I get to them.

I really hope RSS doesn't die. It is my handle on the internet, and without it I would still be refreshing sites all day.

[baby]

It was a change of life for me too. But a bad one. Instead of checking my favorite websites separately I started checking a hundred websites.

I would eat information. I would get a new post every 30 seconds. I would spend my days just sitting at my desk and archiving what didn't seem of interest and read the rest.

After a few month I started realizing I wasn't enjoying what was written anymore. I wasn't enjoying visiting a website, its design, its UI (And I know the saying, we're not supposed to learn a new UI every time we browse a new website, but I like seeing a websites renovating its design, I like reading an article in its real environment )...

I decided to ditch it. I didn't need the technology. Nobody needed the technology. I didn't mind opening multiple tabs to check different websites.

I use bookmarks, multi row toolbar and tree style tab on Firefox and it's all I need for my big consumption. And I'm a power user. So imagine the normal users, why would they care about Google Reader?

[veridies]

It doesn't help you. But that doesn't mean it's not useful.

I subscribe to about fifteen developer blogs that update only two or three times a year. Huge waste of time to visit their websites, but whenever anything important happens, I'll know.

I subscribe to the New York Times' main feed. I don't read most of the articles, but I'll flip through all of the headlines for ones that I want to look at. Much faster than the main site.

I'll Option-R right before I leave the house, so if I'm stuck without internet for a while (the cell phone connection is very spotty on a commute I make) I can still read the news and the blogs I'm interested in.

It doesn't fit your use case, but that doesn't mean no one needs RSS.

[icelancer]

>I subscribe to about fifteen developer blogs that update only two or three times a year. Huge waste of time to visit their websites, but whenever anything important happens, I'll know.

This is the EXACT use case I desperately need it for.

[samspot]

I had this problem early on, but I started doing regular pruning. I only have 2-3 sources that update daily now, and the rest are weekly or monthly. I can consume a day's worth of feeds in about 10 minutes.