Shajara

For years I’ve been adamant in my use of a desktop RSS reader. I don’t know why I was so stubborn in my ways, but for whatever reason, my RSS habits been firmly planted in native Mac applications (first NetNewsWire and then Newsfire), unswayed namely by online alternatives like Google Reader.

I tried Reader a couple of times over the past few years. I did see the benefits of utilizing a cloud based alternative for my news reading needs - universal access, syncing capabilities, data protection, social capabilities. But I just loved the feel of a native Mac app so much. The UI styling, the animation, the “lickability” (thank heavens that period of Mac development is over). 

But most of all, I was unswayed because I was overly planted in habit. I knew exactly how my reader worked, what I needed to do to make it do what I wanted. I feared change. 

Also, I didn’t particularly need any of the syncing or cloud capabilities. I had one computer, what was the need?

But now, with an iPhone, I can use that kind of stuff. A desktop reader doesn’t make much sense if it means that I have to be seated in front of my laptop to read my news. How antiquated! 

So, this week, I switched from Newsfire to Google Reader. It easier than I thought it’d be, as Reader has caught up with (and surpassed) many of the features that I loved on the desktop, namely keyboard shortcuts (wow!). And the best part: now I can comb through feeds on my iPhone, and keep everything synced. Brilliant.

This basically means that my iPhone, a 5oz pocket device, can do a huge chunk of what my laptop can, and do it pretty much just as easily - news, music, video, Twitter, Facebook, games. 

Good news, everyone! We’re living in the future. When did that happen?