Google announced the latest wave of shutdowns yesterday evening and while many of the items on the list seem to have attracted little attention, one product did. That one, as you have likely already guessed — is Google Reader. For those who missed that bit, Google Reader will be shutting down come July 1, 2013.
Anyway, as the internet seems to do really good — this Google Reader shutdown has caused some rather heated opinions. We suspect that many will not be affected, not to mention the ones that felt Google Reader was already dying or that RSS in general is dying, there are the supporters. In fact, a Change.org petition kicked off shortly after the shutdown announcement and has already attracted more than 50,000 signatures.
More specifically, as of this moment in time it has 52,529 signatures with 22,471 still needed. Basically, if you want to try and help keep Google Reader alive, you may want to consider signing. Of course, the key here is try because even assuming all the necessary signature come — that does not necessarily mean Google will change their mind.
For those wiling to accept the news and simply move on, you may want to take a look at Feedly. It seems they have been doing some work and in fact, are promising a seamless transition. For those who have yet to take a look, Feedly has solutions for Chrome, Firefox and Safari as well as for Android. They also seem to have been working hard to accomodate any new users and as of last evening have announced they added some new servers and upgraded the bandwidth.
