I use Reader a lot, but as a curated reading list, which was after all its primary function. Most people I know use it the same way. When Google+ launched, one of the most requested features I saw among my circles was integration to Reader. Now, it seems they are incorporating these changes, and removing the social features in Reader as redundant, and that seems perfectly logical to me.
Okay, some users did make extensive use of these features. But in all the time Reader has been around, you'd have been laughed off if you tried to pass it off as a social network, let alone the best one.
Its not like the "reader" features are being retired. And it's not like Google hasn't been on a spring-cleaning spree lately, shuttering numerous other products.
So I really don't understand why this action cannot be taken at face value. If, like the author suspects, Google is looking to boost membership of Google+ by killing off Buzz and Reader communities, I think they have bigger problems. I doubt anyone would notice if the entire active Buzz and Reader communities joined Google+ en masse.
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[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 56.2 ms ] threadOkay, some users did make extensive use of these features. But in all the time Reader has been around, you'd have been laughed off if you tried to pass it off as a social network, let alone the best one.
Its not like the "reader" features are being retired. And it's not like Google hasn't been on a spring-cleaning spree lately, shuttering numerous other products.
So I really don't understand why this action cannot be taken at face value. If, like the author suspects, Google is looking to boost membership of Google+ by killing off Buzz and Reader communities, I think they have bigger problems. I doubt anyone would notice if the entire active Buzz and Reader communities joined Google+ en masse.
Half of that is whitespace. The old design does not dedicate 66% of screen estate to the user's content, it's more like 33%.