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Wednesday, January 09, 2008
FeedDemon is Free
Listening to podcasts and reading blogs, you’d think the only RSS aggregator worth anybody’s consideration is Google Reader. I’ve tried it and I’ve stuck with FeedDemon. Virtually anything Google Reader can do, FeedDemon has been doing longer and, in many cases, more elegantly. (Of course, that’s my opinion and everybody should use exactly what works best for them.) One of the best things about FeedDemon (among many wonderful features) is that it’s software that resides on my computer. I can get my feeds and then board a plane and read my feeds while I’m offline. I can also synch my two computers and my Windows mobile device with my NewsGator Online account, so my feeds are current and up-to-date regardless of the device I use to manage my feeds. The ability to share my feeds—the equivalent to the Google Reader’s “share” feature—has been around for a while, and my link blog is based on my FeedDemon news bin.
One obstacle to using FeedDemon has been its cost, around $40, but that’s no longer an issue as of today. At CES, NewsGator (which acquired FeedDemon a while back) announced that all of its consumer RSS products are now free. So there’s no reason to not give it a try. If you’re on a Mac, NetNewsWire—also an acquisition—would be the NewsGator product to download.
The decision to stop charging was based on a desire to increase corporate sales, according to a ComputerWorld report. The more individuals are using the products, the easier NewsGator finds it to make its case to prospective corporate clients.
UPDATE: An article in Digital Inspiration goes into considerably more detail about the advantages of using FeedDemon over Google Reader. I even learned a few things!