Google Reader founder fears Reader demise sends the wrong signal

Advertisement
By NDTV Correspondent | Updated: 3 July 2013 17:44 IST
Google Reader founder fears Reader demise sends the wrong signal

Google Reader founder Chris Wetherell has spoken on the demise of the RSS reader and expressed his fear that it sends the wrong signal.

In an interview with Forbes, Wetherell said that if a popular product like Reader can be killed this easily, employees would think twice before approaching Google with their big ideas, and perhaps prefer leaving the search giant and go implement their ideas elsewhere.

"If you have this big idea," Wetherell said, "It might be easier to leave the company. You might feel this. I'm not sure. But someone might feel like they should just leave the company rather than finding a way to explore it within Google and then have Google say in a couple years 'It doesn't matter how many millions of people are using the thing, we've got larger concerns.'"

Wetherell, who created Reader back in 2005 when he was a Google engineer, felt if he were setting out today, he would prefer creating Reader outside Google. "I would absolutely not do it inside of Google," he said. "I would hate that to be my idea versus Google Plus. That would be very frustrating."

Advertisement

The man who left Google to co-found an app for couples called Avocado, says the move may harm Mountain View's ability to hire and retain talent.

"It will be interesting to watch how Google communicates to its own employees about this," Wetherell said. "If they are enticing people who are highly imaginative and creative and saying 'Don't worry, you can come in and you'll find something amazing, you'll be able to express yourself in some amazing way,' I think that might be less straight."

 

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: Chris Wetherell, Google, Google Reader
Advertisement
Popular Mobile Brands
  1. Best Smartphones Under Rs 25,000 in India: Check List
  2. OnePlus Pad 3 With 12,140mAh Battery Launched in India: Check Features
  3. OnePlus 13s Review
  4. OpenAI's ChatGPT Now Has a Record Mode and Can Connect to Gmail, Outlook
  5. OnePlus 13s vs iQOO 13: Price in India, Specifications Compared
  1. Hugging Face Releases SmolVLA Open Source AI Model For Robotics Workflows
  2. Redmi Pad 2 With 9,000mAh Battery, MediaTek Helio G100 Ultra Chip Launched: Price, Specifications
  3. Alphabet CEO Expects to Keep Hiring Engineers as AI Advances
  4. Amazon Said to Be Preparing to Test Humanoid Robots for Deliveries
  5. Google Doubles Gemini 2.5 Pro Rate Limit for Google AI Pro Subscribers
  6. Apple Said to Have Given iPhone Repair Business to Tata India as Partnership Expands
  7. Huawei Pura 80 Pro, Pura 80 Pro+ Design Teased; Pre-Reservation Begin
  8. Mistral Code AI-Powered Coding Assistant Introduced for Enterprise Developers
  9. Nothing Headphone 1 Launch Date Set for July 1, to Arrive Alongside Nothing Phone 3
  10. Ethereum Foundation Announces Overhauled Treasury Strategy Amid Scaling Push
Gadgets 360 is available in
Download Our Apps
Available in Hindi
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2025. All rights reserved.