Filling The Wait States

I have mentioned the mobile (Android) edition of the Google Reader a number of times recently. But this time I think it deserves a dedicated post. Because I have just realized I stopped using the desktop (browser - based) version at all. Yesterday I removed the tab containing the http://www.google.com/reader/view/ web page and its associated bookmark from my FireFox browser. Because I have not used it for more than three months now.

This is one of the most significant changes in how I consume information. The Google Reader, which is my database of RSS subscriptions, delivers around 200 posts daily. That is a lot of material to go through. And reading the posts on my Galaxy Note superphone means I read them in so called wait states. Like waiting for the lunch to be served at my local cafe. Or taking a commuter bus ride. Or standing in line to the ticket counter at the railway station. Just the moment when you would normally read a newspaper.

The Google Reader App has fantastic, thumb operated, minimalistic user interface. Swipe left / right or swipe up / down. What the 5 inch high resolution Galaxy Note throws on top is the decent web interface, when I want to drill the post down to the source. On the 5+ inch screen the underlying web pages are well readable and can be easily shared in a number of ways. Most frequently I use sharing via Gmail, if I want to forward the page referred to in an RSS item, or sharing via EverNote, when I want to store the reference for my own use. The sharing options complete the flow, closing the entire process loop on the mobile device.

It is very interesting how well balanced mobile applications completely take over their desktop equivalents. The Reader is the first, but certainly there will be more.