Google News Reader - first impression
I'm in the field, so it's worth having a look at Google's new reader. I haven't done more than export my feeds out of BottomFeeder and start importing, but here's my first impression - they really, really need to give the user some kind of feedback during the import process. I sent it over 300 feeds in my OPML file, and all there is for feedback is a text box that says "Your subscriptions are being imported..."
No animation, no progress report. Heck, for all I know it's locked up. I'll have more to say once I see what happens next.
Update: Well, with no sign from the server that it ever finished importing, I simply refreshed the page. It apparently imported everything, but I have no idea as to how long it took. The interface does feel slow and clunky, as others have reported.
I think the main take away I have is that people like me are not Google's primary target. I follow hundreds of feeds - there are people out there who follow more. I suspect that Google's target reader keeps track of far fewer sources - 5 to 10, maybe. The two pane presentation style probably works for that kind of list, but I can't see me using it - BottomFeeder makes it far easier for me to spot the new stuff I care about quickly.
Comments
Same problem
[Fabian] October 8, 2005 8:40:45.140
I had the same issue. I only had 150 feeds to import, but I had no idea when they had finished, and it did seem to take quite a while. Bit shoddy really.
I tried it
[] October 8, 2005 14:44:57.610
I tried importing my feeds from btf, as btf is crashing on startup again (out of memory problems) and I had an opml export file lying around. It didn't take forever, but it stopped with an unspecified format error.
I think it would just make sense ta this point to pick a format that isn't OPML, and build a feed list import/export facility that uses it. Which format almost doesn't matter as long as the usage is clear and it doesn't have the baggage that OPML now has. Then start marketing it. Given the issues with OPML it should be an easy sell.
Or one could help/encourage the ATOM folks to come up with a spec to list feeds and other site information. I'd just build an RDF schema, that is what it was designed to do, but I know most people think I'm crazy.
Startup crash?
[ James Robertson] October 8, 2005 15:33:49.979
Comment by James Robertson
To fix the startup issue, edit the file btfSettings.ini in some text editor. Make the following two settings higher:
Those two values keep Bf in a range of memory consumption. If that range isn't enough, you can have problems