So where do you turn when you want to know what's going on in the world? For me the choice depends on the type of news I am looking for. For economics, business, politics and current affairs I turn, in order, to The Economist, BBC News and Reuters using a combination of iPhone, iPad and desktop browser (I used to watch the news on the TV but I stopped that long ago). For weather forecasts I use Google (if you search for "weather " Google presents not only the weather for your chosen city but also links to other sites with similar information) or, if I want more detail or a five-day view, BBC News.
These sources, although informative and interesting and full of well-constructed opinion (not the BBC, unfortunately - I'm mostly thinking here of The Economist) are a bit impersonal. Most of the news is of events happening far away to people I'm never likely to meet doing things in which I am only peripherally interested; what about the people I know and topics that fascinate me?
The answer, assuming you have an iPad, is that for personalised news you want two apps: FlipBoard and Reeder. Why? Read on.
One of the best ways to keep track of blogs is via an RSS feed reader. Google Reader is an excellent management system for your RSS subscriptions (although it's easy to overload by simply subscribing to, for example, BBC News) but the user interface could be better. That's where Reeder comes in, offering a great user experience in a simple, elegant and easy-to-use interface. Once you've given Reeder your Google Reader account credentials it syncs your feeds and presents them to you in a fast, easy-to-read format. I now skim through my feeds, read some of the stories in detail and throw longer articles at Instapaper for reading on the bus.
And for the other stuff, when an RSS feed is a bit too simple but you can't be bothered to read a dozen different websites (especially the interesting ones that generate lots of long, detailed stories or posts) there is FlipBoard. I feel comfortable describing FlipBoard as new and innovative because it really is. The premise is simple; you give it your FaceBook and Twitter details, choose your information sources (New Scientist, TreeHugger, BBC News etc.) and it aggregates your news into a magazine-style layout that you flip through or drill into depending on your level of interest in the article in question.
As an aside, Instapaper is great for reading long articles. If you've never tried it you're probably asking why you would need another reading app but, trust me, it's great. Instapaper takes your articles or web pages, strips out the adverts and other rubbish and presents back the text in an easy-to-read format. Try it, it's more useful than it sounds.
So that's it. You need Flipboard and Reeder. And Instapaper for longer articles. Nothing more.
These sources, although informative and interesting and full of well-constructed opinion (not the BBC, unfortunately - I'm mostly thinking here of The Economist) are a bit impersonal. Most of the news is of events happening far away to people I'm never likely to meet doing things in which I am only peripherally interested; what about the people I know and topics that fascinate me?
The answer, assuming you have an iPad, is that for personalised news you want two apps: FlipBoard and Reeder. Why? Read on.
One of the best ways to keep track of blogs is via an RSS feed reader. Google Reader is an excellent management system for your RSS subscriptions (although it's easy to overload by simply subscribing to, for example, BBC News) but the user interface could be better. That's where Reeder comes in, offering a great user experience in a simple, elegant and easy-to-use interface. Once you've given Reeder your Google Reader account credentials it syncs your feeds and presents them to you in a fast, easy-to-read format. I now skim through my feeds, read some of the stories in detail and throw longer articles at Instapaper for reading on the bus.
And for the other stuff, when an RSS feed is a bit too simple but you can't be bothered to read a dozen different websites (especially the interesting ones that generate lots of long, detailed stories or posts) there is FlipBoard. I feel comfortable describing FlipBoard as new and innovative because it really is. The premise is simple; you give it your FaceBook and Twitter details, choose your information sources (New Scientist, TreeHugger, BBC News etc.) and it aggregates your news into a magazine-style layout that you flip through or drill into depending on your level of interest in the article in question.
As an aside, Instapaper is great for reading long articles. If you've never tried it you're probably asking why you would need another reading app but, trust me, it's great. Instapaper takes your articles or web pages, strips out the adverts and other rubbish and presents back the text in an easy-to-read format. Try it, it's more useful than it sounds.
So that's it. You need Flipboard and Reeder. And Instapaper for longer articles. Nothing more.
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