Not liking it . . .

Google recently changed their RSS feeder page, something that I had become comfortable with over time.  Not being very techie, I didn't take notice when they shared with users the information on the change to the page and further changes in the future.  After reading some blog posts I guess it has something to do with integrating Reader into the new Google+. 

What I do know is that I don't like the change and there are others who share my sentiment including Iranian youth.  It seems that for some technical reason the Iranian government can't block Reader in the country so it has become a way to share uncensored news.  The recent revisions to Reader may change this.

As explained by Amir on Amirhm.com, Google Reader is not a separate domain (i.e., it’s available at www.google.com/reader) and it’s available behind a secure URL beginning https. This setup makes it hard for the government to directly block and filter Reader, even though many other social services, including Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, YouTube, Tumblr, Flickr and Picasa, are routinely banned in Iran, a country that’s ranked as the world’s worst oppressor of online freedoms.


In Iran, Reader is able to serve as a hidden social outlet. It even has super-users like activist VahidOnline, a user with more than 7500 followers. These folks help share and spread news through Reader with posts that become online discussion boards for a network of Iranian users.

I'm in agreement with Stephen at Stephen's Web that it is now more difficult to use and with these comments from a former Google product manager.  I find it much slower to use.   Is anyone else having trouble with the change?
 
Reader is a product built to consume information, quickly. We designed it to be very good at that one thing. G+ is an experience built around browsing (similar to Facebook) and socializing. Taking the UI paradigm for G+ and mashing it onto Reader without any apparent regard for the underlying function is awful and it shows.