Jangro.com Social Media, Affiliate Marketing, etc. Heavy on the etc.

Prompted by Matt Cutts’ recent overview , I thought I’d give the new version of Google Reader a run through.  I’ve never been a fan of web-based news readers.  I’ve actually never been a fan of web-based applications in general because they get lost in my dozens of browser windows that get opened during the day.  I suppose I could improve my own browser-window management behavior, but that’s not the way things are supposed to work, is it?  In any case, I like to have my oft-used applications right in the application bar as an icon so I can see when new items are available, and they’re a single click away.  This is part of the bigger problem with the browser becoming the OS….applications running within applications is not the most usable solution.

I AM, however, a geeky web-developer at heart and love working with elegant Javascript applications.  (Google Maps is still one of my favorites.)  And it looks like this one will be a treat, at least from that perspective.

First thing, it automatically detects my Google account, like all other google properties.  But here is the problem with that.  I have a few different Google accounts that I use (Gmail, Adwords, and Adsense).  The primary ones are the Adsense and Adwords accounts.  I share these with my business partner, and if I use one of them as my newsreader account, he’ll see them too.  I suppose there’s a potential benefit there, he and I can share RSS feeds, but I don’t think that’s what Google has in mind.  In order to maintain quick access to my own personal Google account, I’ll have to use a second browser.  Google, if you’re reading, perhaps you could remember which account I last used in each of your applications.

Google has somewhat addressed my quick-access issues and provides some bookmarks for the browser’s toolbar.  in a “goodies” tab, they provide a “next” link and a “subscribe” link.  The former goes to your next unread item.  The latter takes the place of clicking on any RSS link on the page.  I don’t think Google’s figured out a way to make Reader the default RSS application in the OS.

I do really enjoy the interface.  It makes it very easy to get through many different RSS feeds.  I also like the integrated blog search.  To re-subscribe to some of my favorites, I simply type in the domain name or even a search term, like “mattcutts.com“, “techcrunch.com“, or “David Naylor“.

As for the features and screenshots, Gina at Lifehacker gives it a very good overview , so I’ll just direct you there, if you don’t mind.

Ironically, in spite of my aversion to browser OS applications, I find myself trying two new browser-based apps this week, the other being WriteToMyBlog that I’ve written about here.