

Google Reader: Play - mtinkerhess
http://www.google.com/reader/play/

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solutionyogi
Why did I click on this? There are enough outlets on the web for me to waste
my time!

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Groxx
We know you wants it. It calls to us. We needs it.

Must. Have. The precious!

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SandB0x
Uh, what? One totally random article, then the second item:
<http://icanread.tumblr.com/post/432293483>

Lovely. I don't have anything remotely like this in my subscriptions.

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mds
That was the second or third item I got too.

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jenningsjason
feels like a faster, less relevant version of StumbleUpon

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pclark
is that useful?

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eplanit
I stopped at "We'll keep track..."

Yes, I know that they do and that they will. Enough!

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KirinDave
It's a stream of unfunny content. Thanks, google!

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ebun
Pretty interesting. It's the FastFlip of Google Reader. With FastFlip, you
don't have as much choice as to the news they show so I guess they're going
the same direction here with Reader Play

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tkiley
If this catches on, I could see a lot of site owners crying foul over the fact
that google is scraping the choicest bits of content w/o providing any page
views or ad revenue.

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mquander
_"This"_ being RSS readers, I presume.

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tkiley
I don't think this is just another RSS reader. Here's why:

In a typical RSS reader, the relationship between the user and the content
producer is more pronounced; the user proactively selects content sources and
knows where each piece of content comes from; as a result, there is still a
significant element of brand reinforcement.

The internet has discussed the economic implications of RSS readers ad nauseam
so I wont go there. However, this isn't just an RSS reader; this site allows
me (as a reader) to consume an amazing amount of content with pretty much no
idea where it came from and very little inducement for follow-up interaction
with the content creator.

In other words: Google Play is basically stumbleupon, except in Google's
version, the "toolbar" takes up the entire screen. Google is redefining the
transaction in a way that minimizes value for the content creators and
maximizes value for Google.

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netcan
I wouldn't use such damning words, but basically I agree.

The thing is, RSS hasn't caught on with users/readers after all this time. I
think we can safely say most people won't ever use an RSS reader in the way
that was expected, a pull email system. It has however, caught on with
publishers. That makes it into a behind the scenes technology that users don't
really need to know about, which I think means the disconnect is to be
expected. I don't think there is a clear line between the implications
previously discussed (ad nauseam) and this, if a user doesn't know what an rss
feed is.

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cake
Annnd another useless feature of Google Reader.

I can't understand the way they decide how Google Reader evolves, I mean they
just have to pick up one of the many feature requests :
<http://productideas.appspot.com/#16/e=22493>

GR lacks many basic features (read an item later, filters, views per feeds...)

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jsz0
I can see potential in this for living room browsing on a TV. It's more of a
passive approach to content. You don't have to seek anything out -- it's just
there and you can click Next if you don't like it for something else.
Everything seems to be formatted well for a TV sized/resolution display. If
this was built into my TV or other set tops I'd probably use it.

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Groxx
Mine has actually been extremely relevant to my feeds. Might be because I've
been religiously starring favored articles for over a year (a few hundred,
easily). Reader is the best and worst thing that's happened to my time for a
long time.

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delackner
I tapped the right arrow for about 10 minutes and still never saw a single
thing that felt like real content. I would think it would get the hint that I
didn't LIKE any of it.

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geuis
I don't understand, how do I look at my own Google Reader feeds? This just
looks like a bunch of random crap I'm not interested in.

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brown9-2
That is exactly the point: [http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/finding-
awesome-stuff...](http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/finding-awesome-
stuff-online-with.html)

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rpdillon
Yeah, and from the article you just linked to:

"Just click the feed settings menu on any feed in Reader and select “View in
Reader Play.”"

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orionlogic
a fear trembling on me pushing a new button from Google, after the Buzz's
privacy fiasco .

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padmanabhan01
This could have been designed a whole lot better..

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zavulon
How are the privacy settings?

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yanw
I like that it incorporates the keyboard shortcuts.

