RSS is dead. Stop crying about Google Reader

Every couple of years, some 90s kid dusts off their nostalgia and publishes another "RSS is not dead, long live RSS" essay. The web was anarchy and freedom, decentralized. Google Reader was fantastic. And honestly, some of that is true. I miss my spam emails about v1agr4 and the Ukrainian girls who wanted to meet me /s. But here's the reality:

RSS is "too honest" for the advertising business:

That's why Google killed Reader on July 1, 2013, months after announcing it, citing "declining usage." Usage wasn't declining; profitability was. Feedly signed up 3 million new users within two weeks of the announcement. People wanted RSS. The market just didn't.

The majority of people will always choose the easy, free path of doomscrolling over the harder, freer path of setting up a client. That's not a bug of the web; it's how the incentives are structured.

But if you're part of the minority that wants to own your information diet, the tools have never been better:

RSS didn't die, it just stopped being convenient for the people who sell your attention. The tools are free, open source, and entirely yours. It's one docker run away. It's your choice, You can't convince a slave that freedom is better because if he/she never tasted it.