Gmails new interface

I’ve finally been forced to accept the new interface in Gmail.

What I hate is the vertical bar on the far left. It extends the entire height of the window, though there’s nothing on it beyond the four options displayed here, Mail, Chat, Spaces, and Meet. There’s also a hamburger menu at the top which claims to hide the main menu. It hides the Gmail labels pane instead of whatever the leftmost pane is called. There’s also a vertical bar on the far right that allows me to jump to Calendars, Keep, Tasks, or Contacts. The right bar can be minimized. It seems to me that the items on the left belong on the right along with the other apps, taking up less screen space.

I know that this is not likely to make any difference, but sometimes it’s important to let off steam at decisions out of your control.

I replaced Google Reader with InoReader

Google reader has been my primary method of keeping up with technological changes over the past few years. I’ve liked the cloud based system that I can read from my laptop, desktop, or tablet, and it will keep track of what I’e read so I don’t have to read the same thing multiple times.

In the early days of the internet, I used usenet news feeds and an nntp reader to keep up with what was going on around the world and with various programming projects. A decade after Usenet died under its own weight Google Reader made RSS a usable replacement for me.

Google reader announced they were shutting down after July 1st, and they followed through with it.

I’ve tried out Feedly, Digg, and looked at several more. I decided to go with InoReader because while it only has a cloud based interface, it is most similar to the quick method I’ve been used to for reading my news.

Feedly has a really nice iPad app that syncs with their system. Digg has an iPad app, but it requires iOS6, which I’ve delayed installing, and I’ve not seen it in use yet.

I’m certain that Google exiting the RSS reader market has increased the innovation in RSS Readers, and may create a revitalization of the technology in general.