Choosing an Aggregator

Having spent the last few days switching back and forth between a large number of on- and off-line choices on both the Windows and Mac sides of the universe, I finally have settled in on what I consider to be a good choice for reading feeds…that is, for me.

Of course, everybody’s criteria is slightly different, with more priority given to certain areas and less to others, the exact science is anything but exact. In order to help, though, and not just cause confusion, I’ll explain my criteria for selection in the hopes that you can reevaluate yours and possibly come out with a better solution (or, perhaps a first solution).

Navigation
The interface, simply, is the biggest factor in making or breaking an aggregator. Most layouts that I have seen in the syndication world mimic those of email clients. While I think it’s nice that they do such a thing to minimize the learning curve, I’d rather have a killer interface that let me navigate between feeds and articles with minimal interference. Keyboard shortcuts, naturally, are a must and are even nicer when only one key is required for browsing.

Synchronization
Having a number of computers–Mac, Windows, Linux, and Solaris–I need an aggregator that can accommodate at least Mac and Windows (I never travel with a Solaris machine and rarely with Linux). Because I have a number of computers–and don’t always read feeds on the same one–I want something that can synchronize multiple machines. While this synchronization capability was something that I eventually had to give up for the time being, it was quite important in my evaluations.

Speed
I know that this sounds somewhat intuitive, but I can’t stand waiting for articles to load, feeds to be refreshed, or any of that downtime. Instead, I want an aggregator that sync’s frequently (and without bringing my system to a grinding halt) and can load an article within milliseconds of its selection. This alone skimmed out most of the online services, though not all, as the interfaces didn’t allow enough speed and left me spending too much time waiting to read articles.

Export/Import
I tend to switch around from service to service. That being the case, I really dig when one service provides a feature that lets me Import and Export OPML files. An OPML file, for those who wonder, is an outline (hence the real name, Outline Processor Markup Language) of the feeds to which you subscribe. The OPML file contains the names and URI’s for the feeds and provides a way to backup our subscriptions and/or migrate them from one place to another.

Sharing (Email, Link Blogs, et cetera)
Again, something that you may never use or even consider is the capability to share articles. I tend to read through my feeds rather quickly and pick out articles that look interesting based on the title and the first few sentences. If it catches my attention, I post it to my link blog. If the article strikes me as something that would interest a friend, family member, or colleague, I might email it to them with that functionality. After I finish going through my feeds this way, I pop over to my own link blog. Having posted the interesting articles to that, I spend about the same amount of time going through those 15-30 articles as I’ve spent on the 300 or so feeds.

Read on for my conclusion…and my final aggregator choice…

I ended up choosing Google’s Reader. I know, I know…it doesn’t synchronize with anything, it’s slow (web service and all) and it doesn’t align perfectly.

To tell the truth, nothing got me saying, “wow, that’s exactly what I want” so I took the best I could get. Apparently, the good folks at Google just released an API for Reader so Synchronization should be right around the bend (I’ll let you developers get going on that).

Additionally, the sharing features that Google incorporates are incredible. I have other services enabled from Google (e.g., Mail, iGoogle, et cetera…) and find that the integration is phenomenal. I send articles to my parents and friends frequently and the GMail integration is seamless. The link blog is built in to the service too.

Yeah, I could be happier, but I am currently satisfied in my choice…though I will probably re-evaluate in a couple of months when the technology has evolved some more. Until then, keep me informed of your criterion, aggregator choices, all the good stuff…