I’ve have relied on Google Reader for several years to notify me when my blog buddies post new content. Apparently, that is not the way people keep up with updates anymore, but it works great for me. In a way, Reader has been a significant link to many friends I’ve never met, and the tool that made meeting a few possible. Tomorrow it will be gone.
Technology is handy, but unreliable, and I am a reluctant user. I’ve copied my Reader content and have looked into a suitable replacement, but I don’t know what will happen. It is possible that nothing will be found suitable for my retro grouch ways. If that happens, I might lose touch with some folks. But that doesn’t mean that anything has come between us, only that our connection failed.
I’ll see you on the other side…or not. Best wishes either way.
Pondero 
I use “Recent Blog Updates” on my blog for the same purpose.
Thanks for the tip, Steve. I’ll admit I didn’t think of that.
I’ve transitioned to Feedly. It was tough at first but I am digging it now.
I’m also using Feedly. It’s still no Reader, but it’ll do.
“The Old Reader” looks like an old Google Reader, no learning curve
I’m following your lead. I’ll be off blogger shortly and doing a similar search. I’ve kept an eye out and maybe I’ll show for a ramble one day.
Feedly was exactly what I didn’t want in an aggregator. I ended up using tt-rss on my own server. It’s not perfect, but as long as I pay the monthly hosting bill, no one can pull the plug.
A few hosted alternates that don’t completely suck: The Old Reader, goread.io, and, surprisingly, the new Digg reader is decent. I don’t expect anything other than complete suckage from Digg these days, so that’s saying a lot.
I’ve never used an RAD feed. I have my blog roll in the side of of my page, and I just check in, periodically.
RSS…
I am using Feedly now.