Bloglines we hardly knew ye…

Remember when I said before that I fear change?  Well, guess what?  My old faithful blog reader that I have used since it began is about to be no more.  That’s right, Bloglines is shutting down for good, and I am really sad about it, y’all. 

When I started reading blogs, like most people, I would just go to them each day, check to see if there was something new, blah blah blah, this is not news to people in the blog world.  At the time, I was working in an academic library and was contributing to the library’s blog – as well as working on my own – and since part of what I did was to scour the blogosphere (is that term still relevant?  Have we moved on to blogiverse or something else?  I don’t know) for items of interest, and the best way to do that was to use an aggregator to keep them all in one place.  I don’t think Bloglines was the very first web-based news feed reader (although someone please let me know if I’m wrong) but it was certainly the one that fit for me.  And I’ve used it ever since, and it has never let me down, not once.

So, what now?  As of October 1st I need to find myself a new reader.  I guess the simplest thing would be to use the ubiquitous Google Reader, but I have to admit that I’ve had a look at it, and I just don’t like it.  I’ve actually gone so far as to export my links to it, and I’ve played around on it but still.  Not liking it.

So, I’m asking around.  What do you use and do you like it and would you recommend it?  I’ve only got a couple of weeks left to figure something out, otherwise it’s back to the pre-2005 days or checking link after link.  And really, who has time for that kinda shiz?

Goodbye, Bloglines, it’s been great.  We’ve been together for 5 years, which is a hella long time on the interwebs, when you get right down to it.  I still have some of my original subscriptions too, and I guess if there was a prize for loyalty I just might be eligible. 

I will provide an update to my blog reading saga, no doubt.  Check back with me on October 2nd to see how I’m doing my withdrawal symptoms!