Google is doing second round of spring cleaning — euphemism for small projects it finds unworthy of its time and efforts – and is killing off a whole bunch of projects, the biggest of them being Google Reader. In a blog post, Urs Hölzle, Google’s senior vice president of Technical Infrastructure announced:
Everyone has a device, sometimes multiple devices. It’s been a long time since we have had this rate of change—it probably hasn’t happened since the birth of personal computing 40 years ago. To make the most of these opportunities, we need to focus—otherwise we spread ourselves too thin and lack impact. So today we’re announcing some more closures, bringing the total to 70 features or services closed since our spring cleaning began in 2011
The projects that are being euthanized include Google Voice for Blackberry, Calendar API, Snapseed for desktop, Search API for shopping and others. However, it is Google Reader whose loss is going to impact a lot of people — especially those of us who actually love using RSS feeds to plow through hundreds of feeds. I use it in combination with Reeder app on my iPad, iPhone and Macbook Pro to stay on top of the technology world.
We launched Google Reader in 2005 in an effort to make it easy for people to discover and keep tabs on their favorite websites. While the product has a loyal following, over the years usage has declined. So, on July 1, 2013, we will retire Google Reader. Users and developers interested in RSS alternatives can export their data, including their subscriptions, with Google Takeout over the course of the next four months.
It is probably me second most used Google service – after GMail – and I have always been befuddled by Google’s lack of desire to make Google Reader into a bigger reading platform. It could and it still can evolve into a Flipboard type service, but that would mean that Google put resources and some thought into Reader. Despite minimal resources devoted to it, Google Reader one of the better apps built by the Mountain View, Calif.-based company. I wish they would reconsider this decision or better yet put the project into open source so someone can build a follow-on product.
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