So Long Bloglines, Hello Google Reader

A long while ago I wrote about using Bloglines to keep up with my online reading. Since then, I've tried to use a few other browser-based readers, but nothing really made me compelled enough to switch. That is, until, on a recommendation from a coworker, I tried Google Reader again. Now, I've switched.

There's a few reasons why:

• UI - Google Reader looks better. Sorry, but when it comes to spending time with something, I want it to look good. With feed reading, the presentation of the content is important. Would you read a newspaper or a magazine if the copy was not easy to parse?
• Reading experience - there's one irritating feature of Bloglines that I've never liked. As soon as you click on a feed (or a category of feeds), all the items in the feed are marked as read. Even if you haven't read a single one of them! Google Reader marks things as read as your read them. Just like email. Much more sensible.
• Importability/Exportability - All of these readers are hot to trot on allowing you to import and export your list of subscriptions. That makes sense for consumers, so you can easily move from one reader to another. This allowed me to switch without having to resubscribe to all of my feeds of interest.

What's ironic is that that last bit is what really made me switch. If I had to resubscribe to all of my feeds, I would say "no way", since I have about 150 feeds I subscribe to. Yet, with Bloglines supporting import/export of subscriptions (as most all newsreaders do), I was able to use this feature to abandon Bloglines. Compare that to Netflix: if they allowed you to easily take your queue of movies to a competitor, how many people would they lose every month?

A last note: Bloglines never approached me for feedback, in the form of a "we care - tell us what you think" link for me to voice the above. There's no feedback link anywhere in their newsreading UI, on last check. Sure, the feedback cycle back into the product isn't instant. But people who are irritated tend to share their thoughts (as I am here).

Of course, I'll occasionally check Bloglines to see if they've improved. With import/export features in all readers, it's just as easy to switch back.