
Show HN: I made a chart of Google Reader alternatives with my new app - revorad
http://ginicharts.com/google-reader-alternatives
======
revorad
This is a chart I made using my new app Gini - it's a new type of
collaborative spreadsheet/charting app. It's not quite ready for launch yet,
but seeing all the frenzy around Google Reader, I thought what the heck, I'll
at least make something useful with it and share it with you guys.

It will be all collaborative soon (like Google docs), so please bear with me.

There are 3 main use cases I have in mind:

1\. Making and sharing useful data sets and working on them collaboratively.
People use Google docs for it right now, but it's nearly impossible to find
sheets unless you already know about them. Also, Gdocs looks clunky.

2\. Self-tracking, especially on mobile - I've tried lots of apps and always
find myself going back to a spreadsheet for its flexibility. But spreadsheet
apps on mobile suck big time. So I'm fixing that.

3\. Business data dashboards - There are tons of dashboard apps out there. But
people still copy and paste numbers into Excel. Again - because it's flexible.
So, I'm building the dashboard itself in the form of a spreadsheet.

It's only a web app right now, but I'll soon be making mobile apps.

If you're interested, please sign up for the mailing list and I'll let you
know when it's ready for you to use.

~~~
hamburglar
Checkbox attributes would be nice for building a comparison chart. Important
attributes (to me):

* tracks read/unread status at individual item level

* keyboard-driven navigation (sadly, as far as I can tell, only Google really gets it here)

* unlimited or large limit on items per feed (some only allow 10 articles, which makes it impossible to read hacker news, for example)

* standalone accounts (google or facebook login not required)

~~~
hamburglar
Include whatever features you really want the winner to have, because I'm sure
these guys are gonna start scrambling to compete and fill out their checkboxes
real quick. :)

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DanBC
The chart looks nice and clean! Good luck when you launch.

Some things to consider for the chart:

1) Include a date. That allows people who find the chart to know how up to
date the chart is.

2) Include more information. Things like whether it's a standalone software
(and what OSs it runs on) or a web service; what licence it uses; if there's a
cost; if there are any social features (because being shown what some other
people thought was great was useful.); if there are any sync features (so I
can read my feed on my phone and laptop and desktop);

But these are just polite suggestions! Feel free to ignore them.

~~~
jbellis
+1, the reader table definitely needs iOS/Android app columns.

~~~
revorad
Just added Platform column.

Sorry, it's really meant to be collaborative, so that anyone can make changes.
I just launched it in a hurry to stop avoiding launching :-D

------
arocks
Apparently, a similar crowd-sourced spreadsheet was also gaining popularity on
Twitter: <http://t.co/omAAsMYhkB>

~~~
revorad
Thank you. I'll add the missing ones. Crowdsourcing will be fun when my app
becomes collaborative, and I won't hog all the credit for the data :-P

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hnriot
I clicked through and was puzzled!! This is in no shape or form a chart???

It's a table. You need to have a graphical element for this to be considered a
chart.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chart>

------
vijayboyapati
Can someone explain to me why no one is doing a direct, pixel for pixel clone
of Google Reader? I mean, the thing is popular enough that any startup would
die for its traffic. Not to mention its users absolutely love it. As Paul
Bucheit said, it's better to have a small number of users who love your
product than a large number that like it. And well, Greader has a large number
of users who love it. So why not do a blatant clone as a f* you to Google for
nuking a product that its users are absolutely devoted to.

------
jrajav
Has anyone made a Chrome extension with working desktop notifications? I've
tried [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/rss-
alert/lemgijji...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/rss-
alert/lemgijjifkaldmklohlmjaplmfobgich) and
[https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/feed-
notifier/njjn...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/feed-
notifier/njjncilebadhdbgkgnnbobcofhgjmipj?hl=en) , neither seem to work at
all.

------
makkes
Don't forget selfoss, still in its infancy but looks very promising:
<http://selfoss.aditu.de/>

~~~
revorad
Thanks, added!

------
Blahah
FYI, this isn't a chart. Chart's involve representing data using graphical
symbols (other than a verbal description). What you've made is a table.

------
Mahn
Just for the record, The Old Reader is listed as free, but according to their
blog they plan to go freemium eventually.

~~~
revorad
Thanks, updated.

------
deodorel
what I would like to see it's an aggregator with a nice ui, like the
oldreader, but also with a nice api so we could have all the ecosystem we have
right now around google reader. i'am searching and I didn't found one yet :(

------
webwanderings
FeedDemon is dead (died along with Google Reader). They are no longer
developing. I would add RSSOwl in the desktop category. They are actively
looking for synchronization alternative.

~~~
revorad
Thanks! Added RSSOwl.

------
Brian_Curliss
Thank you! I was just searching for a Google Reader alternative.

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v33ra
All I am seeing is a table (not a chart). Am I missing something?

~~~
revorad
Sorry about the confusion. I treat tables as a first-class data visualisation
type. The app will have more chart types. I'm just launching with tables right
now. But even the tables will be interactive soon and display more information
visually in the form of colour coding, sorting and filtering.

~~~
lancewiggs
It's an important and not trivial lesson. Your language is wrong for us, the
readers, and we are far more likely to reject your site without a real attempt
to engage. A chart is a chart, a table is a table.

I was amongst many it seems who were discombobulated when we arrived at the
site. I was wondering whether the chart was in flash or something had not
loaded. And I felt very let down and negative about the table, as I was
expecting some sort of x/y bubble chart, where the bubbles showed the number
of users and the x/y axes showing something like usability and feature-set.
Now that or similar would be a chart worth looking at.

~~~
revorad
I'm sorry you feel let down. I don't mean to mislead anyone. I'm adding
features which will make it clear why I call these charts.

Also, bubble charts and more are coming to the site, so thanks for a great
idea for a chart!

------
cheshire137
Hm, I'm not seeing any chart like I would expect, e.g. a bar chart or line
chart. I see a table filled with text. Did something fail to load? I tried
reloading a couple times.

~~~
niggler
Lists can be charts too, as used in accounting "Chart of Accounts" and in
medicine

------
helloamar
Isn't Reeder totally dependent on Google reader?

~~~
revorad
They tweeted saying "Don't worry, Reeder won't die with Google Reader."

<https://twitter.com/reederapp/status/311995748482945025>

