Google Reader

Like most of the stuff that Google puts out, Google Reader is a very useful tool. To break it down, it basically keeps track of interesting stuff on the web for a given user. It keeps users updated on what's new and updated content for their favorite websites that they can subscribe to, allows users to share this content with other users, and is a great way of seeing what's popular on the net. I myself, have found tons of interesting stuff using Google Reader. The technology works great with blogs, and is useful for being frequently updated with what's new with your favourite websites, so you can say goodbye to visiting your favourite websites just to see if its updated or not; google reader lets you know.

The three ways you can subscribe to websites on your reader (also known as adding feeds) is to visit the reader site and type in the website you want to subscribe to. Of course, not all websites use RSS or news feeds as I have found. Typing in the web address into the add subscription box is a good way of seeing whether or not the site you want to subscribe to has a feed or not. The easiest way to add them is to use the directory and type in keywords associated with what you want to find, and based on your search, there will be a whole list of results. Subscribing is useful when using Firefox since Firefox tells you if the site has a feed by displaying an icon. You can also search certain keywords to see if the site can be subscribed to or not, such as "rss" "xml" and "feed".

Using google reader is better than just visiting individual sites for multiple reasons. For one, it makes sure that you're not wasting your time by visiting a site just to see that it has no new content posted. It is useful in this way, by saving you time and telling you when a site is updated. Its tracking ability informs you of web content and web sites that you might not remember all the time, in case you forget a web address or do not frequently visit the site, but still want to be informed of any new content. It's tracking of web content, its saving of time, and overall organization in discovering what's new on the web is an effective tool, especially for me since I have tons of favourite websites and I would like to know when each and every one are updated with new things. Also, Google reader is good for discovering shared content among users. I find way more interesting web content than I did with using blogs, with such a prominent feature.

I will most likely be using Google Reader from now on, but the only problem I managed to have with it, are the bugs and help content. For instance, I followed the instructions to add a clip to my blog, but it would not let me, and I had no idea how to fix the problem due to a lousy help section. Another problem I have with Google Reader is its interface needs to be re-worked. I find it annoying to constantly be scrolling. Other than that, its pretty nifty.