This is exactly what I've been thinking. The conversation about "RSS readers" is really about several different components that are integrated in to a comprehensive product:
* A backend for managing subscriptions, read/unread status, tagging, etc
* A web UI for reading your feed from anywhere
* A native-client (iOS, Android, OS X, etc) for accessing your feed from your devices
Users of the Google Reader web UI need the full stack, and there are already alternatives, but there are many native-client users who don't need the full stack. They only need the backend.
If someone were to roll a Google Reader API compatible feed subscription and sync service, I think they could recoup their investment pretty easily.
UPDATE: It looks like Feedly has "Normandy" waiting in the wings, but I'm not sure how access and fees will shake out for third-party developers. I'd really like to stick to my existing native-client (Reeder), so here's hoping that they make it reasonable and everyone gets on-board.
1. 1-key shortcut support for a read later service (Instapaper, etc). Most native clients offer this already, so it's just something I'd like on the web view.
2. Keep the same navigation shortcuts as Reader (esp J/K). My fingers are already trained.
Comments
This is exactly what I've been thinking. The conversation about "RSS readers" is really about several different components that are integrated in to a comprehensive product:
* A backend for managing subscriptions, read/unread status, tagging, etc
* A web UI for reading your feed from anywhere
* A native-client (iOS, Android, OS X, etc) for accessing your feed from your devices
Users of the Google Reader web UI need the full stack, and there are already alternatives, but there are many native-client users who don't need the full stack. They only need the backend.
If someone were to roll a Google Reader API compatible feed subscription and sync service, I think they could recoup their investment pretty easily.
UPDATE: It looks like Feedly has "Normandy" waiting in the wings, but I'm not sure how access and fees will shake out for third-party developers. I'd really like to stick to my existing native-client (Reeder), so here's hoping that they make it reasonable and everyone gets on-board.
http://blog.feedly.com/2013/03/14/google-reader/
My wishlist exactly.
For the web UI, I'd actually add 2 features:
1. 1-key shortcut support for a read later service (Instapaper, etc). Most native clients offer this already, so it's just something I'd like on the web view.
2. Keep the same navigation shortcuts as Reader (esp J/K). My fingers are already trained.