On the end of Google Reader

by Volker Weber

We launched Free Beer in 2005 in an effort to make it easy for people to discover and keep tabs on their favorite beers. While the product has a loyal following, over the years drinking free beer has declined. So, on July 1, 2013, we will retire Free Beer.

Time to think about what you pay for your other essential services.

2013-03-14 :: email :: twitter :: facebook :: google+

Comments

Already not a fan. Heavy user of it... first Google Apps, then the various Gmail things, this, Google is making a lot of decisions I do not have to like, that is for sure.
Unsure yet what to do. Things start to change a lot more the last 6-12 months...

I should pick up a Lumia as the next phone... I am decided for the Nexus 4, next week I will get it, but I was tempted. Me, tempted, Windows phone... :-)

Alexander Koch, 2013-03-14 08:27

Fair point, but there have been a lot of paid social and cloud services/apps that have been purchased and shut down too - particularly by Google, Twitter and RIM. Paying for a service does not mean it will last forever..

Stuart McIntyre, 2013-03-14 08:35

Back to self-hosting a private news reader. Nobody should have to "pay" for the fancy display of XML data and it's not entirely clear to me why Google retires Free Beer. Google Currents isn't a good replacement for it :/

Sebastian Herp, 2013-03-14 08:37

Can anyone recommend a good RSS Reader for Windows? I've been using Google Reader for years - probably since it came out. I'll have to shift my stuff from iGoogle soon as well. :-(

John Lindsay, 2013-03-14 09:12

Good bye Reader, welcome Feedly. Or what else is the new vowe pick? Please tell us, so we don't have to migrate twice.

Benjamin Bock, 2013-03-14 09:33

The end may be near, but it isn't there yet. Plenty of time to watch what develops.

Volker Weber, 2013-03-14 09:40

Till now I use netnewswire on my Mac, which still is very good. But I think about an online reader. @vowe: Do you recommend an Online-RSS-Reader?

Alper Iseri, 2013-03-14 09:50

I have been using NewsBlur (http://www.newsblur.com/) for about a year now. I like it a lot. Mobile apps are available. Social features as well (even though I haven't used then).

As of this morning, they are having performance issues. Too many Google emigrants... But the devs are busy adding servers.

And, yes they want your money :-)

Ole Saalmann, 2013-03-14 10:30

I started doing my own Fever instance - the iPhone apps are pretty good as well, I only miss a good iPad app. Maybe Reeder will now also add Fever support there.

Martin Hiegl, 2013-03-14 11:11

Google Mail, Google Search, maybe even Android? ... On the other hand: I have been paying Apple for keychain synchronization which is also gone.

Olav Brinkmann, 2013-03-14 11:27

Well, currently there is no alternative. Even if I'd like to pay, they won't let me.

Thomas Witt, 2013-03-14 11:51

I just came back to where I left a couple of month ago: doing it myself again with Tiny Tiny RSS.
This provides me with an UI similar to the Google reader and also the mobile theme works well on my android phones and tablets. Was a 5 minute job downloading, reading install instructions, installing, exporting and importing, starting reading again as nothing ever happend.
It is like with newspapers: there are plenty of fish in the sea and some can be fished for free if you're willing to and know how

Olaf Baumert, 2013-03-14 12:41

Goodbye daily companion for many years.

Feedly (which I already use on iOS) seems to have a plan:
http://blog.feedly.com/2013/03/14/google-reader/

Ulli Mueller, 2013-03-14 13:22

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