Sorry, but I’ve wasted enough time on Google’s new Reader.
To put it as charitably as possible, it is an ugly mess. I tried to upload two completely different OPML files from two separate Google accounts. I get a reassuring message that says, “Your subscriptions were successfully imported! Your reading list will refresh momentarily.” And then … nothing.
Adding the URL for a feed manually results in a Preview window, where you have to remember to click the Subscribe button or your subscription won’t be added.
It takes dynamite to remove old posts from the reading list after you remove a subscription, and the reading experience is awful if you subscribe to more than a handful of feeds. Someone at Google has fallen in love with the elegance of their code and has lost sight of the user.
Yes, yes, I know it’s a beta. Isn’t everything from Google a beta?
Ed Bott 
Absolutely. I couldn’t delete it fast enough.
Utter garbage. Bloglines maybe slow, but at least it still works! Gtalk was a let down, now this. sigh
Okay, so this is the worst online feed reader ever. What are the other online readers that are better?
John
I think NewsGator Online is excellent, especially because of its ability to synchronize with NewsGator Outlook version, FeedDemon, and (soon) NetNewsWire.
Despite the grief I give them for their horrible attitude toward customer service and technical support, Bloglines is still pretty usable. It’s much better than the Google Reader, although I think it pales in comparison to NewsGator.
If anyone else has recommendations in this space, feel free.
Thanks! I’ll have a look at those.
John
Nailed it. Worst ever. So surprising that this came from Google. Newsgator online is the best web reader I know.
Yeah, I gave this a go for all of five mins, Importing (supposedly successfully) an OPML file exported from Bloglines. I then proceeded to get several thousand “there was a problem” messages, just by moving up and down the list of feeds. Then I realised that it was going to produce an item on the left panel for every item in the future – and realised that scan-reading the Slashdot, Register and BBC News feeds I have was going to be utterly impossible, so binned it faster than you can say ‘what a load of rubbish’.
A definate case of style over substance here, methinks.
K
I was surprised at how bad the reader was — and it wasn’t just buggy, but the interface is absolutlely whacked. Further, the contact email bounces.
d.