By Alex Kantrowitz, Contributor

When he came to Google as a product manager in 2007, Brian Shih wanted to work on Google Reader more than any other product at the company. A Reader user from nearly the moment it launched, Shih’s passion for the product must have been apparent– Google’s leadership soon assigned him to it. Over the course of nearly the next three years, Shih watched as Reader was first stripped down and then put into maintenance, the hospice care of the Internet world. When he began the role, little did he know he would be the last to hold it. Shih left Google in 2011 but still thinks about the demise of the beloved product. In a phone interview last Friday, he criticized his former employer for shutting down Reader, calling it a missed opportunity. Had Google kept Reader alive, Shih said, the company could have realized two main benefits: The product, he said, could have been used as a testing ground, or mini R&D lab, for Google’s social initiatives. And, had Google let Reader continue to evolve, Shih believes it could have turned into a viable solution to information overload. Solving The Information Overload Problem RIP @googlereader 🙁 …read more

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