Before I start preaching about what I think Google Reader should do, let me make it absolutely clear that I love Google Reader. I think it’s by far the best RSS reader, online or offline. It’s fast, easy to use and familiar (thanks to gmail’s widespread adoptance). But it has several major features missing.
Most notably is the total absence of search. Considering Google’s origin, and the fact that all of its other web applications feature search prominantly, this is a glaring omission. This feature has got to be high on the Reader to-do list; the sooner they get it implemented, the better.
Something I would really like to see in Google Reader is the ability to apply tags to articles. Currently you can organise feeds by putting them in folders, and you can ’star’ articles, but I think a full tagging, or labeling system a la gmail would be much more useful.
Extending on the idea of a full tagging system, I’d love it if Reader could automatically tag articles based on the content, and organise them accordingly. So, for example, you could browse all articles that relate to Linux, at one time. This might be a bit optimistic but would still be cool.
Finally, a general compaint and not a feature request. Take Reader out of beta. If not, at least take it out of the labs. The software is, despite its missing features, a finished v1.0 product. And throw a party for the Reader team, they’ve done a great job.
Update: You can check out my Reader shared items here. Enjoy!
