Earlier this week, the little-known but cultishly-loved RSS reader The Old Reader announced that it would cease taking new registrations and convert selected users to a new private site, effectively closing its doors.
However, a post published yesterday on The Old Reader’s blog (hat tip The Verge) indicates that the team has had a change of heart. Dated July 31st, just two days after the initial announcement, it reads:
At this point we are quite confident that public The Old Reader will be available in the future, now with a proper team running it.
More details later this week.
Sorry about Monday. Again.
The Old Reader’s exit from the RSS rat race was interpreted as a sign of fatigue first and foremost. In a lengthy blog post, the team of three explained Google Reader’s closure created a surge in membership that proved to be too much, too fast.
Given that fans of RSS services tend to be fiercely loyal, it won’t come as a surprise if it turns out pleas from users prompted The Old Reader team to hang in there. However, an update to the initial post announcing the team’s retirement states “We have received a number of proposals that we are discussing right now,” which indicates that an acquisition or collaboration might be taking place behind the scenes.
It’s not yet clear if The Old Reader will be introducing new changes to its offering as it jumps back into the ring.
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The Old Reader is best known for an interface that recalls early versions of Google Reader, the beloved RSS service that Google closed down last month. The end of Google Reader left RSS users clamoring to find a suitable replacement, which led competing services like Feedly and Digg to ramp up efforts to meet the demand.
Image credit via Thinkstock
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