Fact 1. At work, I read RSS feeds in
FeedGhost.
Fact 2. At home, I use
NetNewsWire.
Fact 3. I'm mad for the software user experience.
Fact 4. I haven't eaten for 10 hours.Battle!
NetNewsWire looks like a MacOS X application ought to. It uses standard controls, has a Spotlight field, and doesn't throw up any surprises.
FeedGhost, on the other hand, is built with some very custom controls. The default theme looks damned good, but it doesn't feel like a traditional Windows application. Grids, for example, don't quite work the way they should.
Say I want to change the article list so the oldest article is at the top rather than the bottom. I click on the "Date" column header, and... the oldest from today, not the oldest in the grid, moves to the top. Then I notice that the articles are grouped by "Today", "This Week", etc., and "Today" is still at the top. I can see a mysterious "Date" box in the grid header, but I don't know what will happen when I click it. I thought that clicking the column heading would sort it, but it only did half a job. What chance do I stand with a button I don't recognise at all?
The NetNewsWire toolbar is totally configurable, and can be shown/hidden with a single click. FeedGhost uses the new "ribbon bar"-style control, which packs in a lot of functionality but isn't configurable. Seriously, I've setup my pane layout -- I don't need those buttons anymore.
If you want a consistent but bland interface, NetNewsWire wins. If you want a gorgeous interface which trips you up occasionally, FeedGhost wins.
User Interface: Abstain.Both of the applications can open web pages in tabs. FeedGhost uses the Internet Explorer engine, which works great and keeps me logged into my websites. NetNewsWire doesn't keep me logged in, so I have to open some articles manually in Safari. There's an "Open in Browser" toolbar button, but it doesn't do what you might think.
Web Handling: FeedGhost.They both offer the ability to synchronise subscriptions and read articles between multiple installations of the product. NetNewsWire takes around 20 seconds on my Mac to sync and shutdown when I quit the application, while FeedGhost... I don't know when it syncs, but it does it, quickly and without fanfare. NetNewsWire makes me wait, and FeedGhost does what it's told.
Synchronisation: FeedGhost.FeedGhost allows you to tag articles with keywords. I love tagging my content! Gmail, Blogger, Flickr, iPhoto, del.icio.us let me do it, and my RSS reader must give me the same.
Except NetNewsWire doesn't. Bummer.
Organisation: FeedGhost.FeedGhost.com hosts RSS feeds of articles with tags I choose to make public. I can send tagged articles automatically to FeedGhost community feeds. NetNewsWire lets me send articles to del.icio.us or my own weblog -- but for fuck's sake, please can I have a del.icio.us toolbar button? You have no idea how irritating it is to have to context-click every damn article when I've got so much toolbar space begging to be used.
NetNewsWire wins for hooking into an established social bookmarking service, which makes sharing easier and increases my feeds' audience. FeedGhost does share well (and makes it much easier than NetNewsWire), but I want to publish all of my feeds in one place.
Sharing: NetNewsWire.FeedGhost's support is right up there with the best. E-mails are answered quickly by human beings, and feedback is welcomed. The FeedGhost team keep personal and corporate blogs, which are in the default subscription list. Hell, there's a "Feedback" button right up there in the toolbar. Enough said?
I've never written to the NetNewsWire team. I don't know if they keep blogs or if my opinions are wanted. That's very traditional and there's nothing wrong with it, but FeedGhost goes above and beyond.
Personal Touch: FeedGhost.Now, let me tell you what seriously bugs the shit out of me. I have two RSS readers which can synchronise with themselves, but not between each other. Fuck, wouldn't it be great if I could tag a C# article at home to show the guys at work? Or flag an article in the cybercafe to show to my friends later on my mobile device du-jour?
My RSS feeds are more important to me than web browsing. As nice as it would be to keep all my bookmarks synchronised, I can live without it. But now that all of my mail is synchronised (across webmail, Mail.app and Mozilla Thunderbird), it's too bloody painful to keep all my feeds in sync manually. Bloglines and Google Reader have turned me off web-based readers, so my hopes are resting on some feed synchronisation standards and services appearing soon.
In conclusion, things I want to see in NetNewsWire:
- Tagging.
- A toolbar button to send an article to del.icio.us.
In conclusion, things I want to see in FeedGhost:
- Sending articles to del.icio.us.
- The patience to configure the article list, and the willpower to not click around and fuck it up.
In conclusion: both the products offer great user experiences, and there's very little feedback I can offer to improve them. RSS readers in general are reaching beyond "good enough". What we need now is more innovation in RSS
services.
Next week, I'll be comparing and contrasting the new "Battlestar Galactica" TV show and Jane Austen's novel, "Pride and Prejudice".
Labels: feedghost, netnewswire, review, rss
