Google Reader – parting thoughts

I wrote an ode to Google Reader back in March when it was announced that Google would discontinue the service after July 1st. And, well, here we are.

I’ve already written a lot about how much I loved Reader, and how much of my internet browsing and consumption relied upon it. Reader was like the team of paperboys that delivered me the news every morning. While its death won’t be the end of my affair with RSS readers (I’ve already transferred all of my feeds and saved items to Feedly), it feels like the end of an era.

Here are some of my final stats:

– Currently I’m subscribed to 28 feeds. Most are baseball-related, and the others consist of my friends, tumblr, the business world, some comics, and an assortment of writers I enjoy reading.

– Since I first logged into Reader on February 2nd, 2009, I have read over 86,000 items.

– Of those, I starred and saved a few hundred. Here are some of my favorites – feel free to check them out if you have an hour or three to spare:

– Supercut of movie scenes that break the fourth wall

– Every Woody Allen stammer from every Woody Allen movie

– 25 great Calvin and Hobbes strips

– How to live without irony

– Louis Armstrong in Copenhagen, 1933

– A time lapse of a day in New York

– Procrastination vs. Incubation

– I do not fear death

– The annotated wisdom of Louis CK

– Seven myths about cooking steak