Comments
  1. You must read the article before you can comment on it.
    • danielw2 years ago

      I really wish Readup would include highlighting and annotations along with exporting them to other tools. It’s the real thing I think Readup is missing.

      • thorgalle
        Top reader this weekScoutScribe
        2 years ago

        Noted! This feature is requested often and we’ll work on it when we can! In the next 1-2 months we’re focusing on an Android app and free trials. Highlights & annotations are ranked high to be a next step on the roadmap.

    • mixxorz2 years ago

      It’s a shame the article didn’t mention ReadUp. I do think compensating publishers and authors is the core of the problem. There wouldn’t be ads if there was an alternative revenue stream.

      ReadUp is like Pocket, but you have to pay for it. And the money goes to the authors and publishers. I honestly think it’s a much more sustainable business model.

    • DellwoodBarker2 years ago

      As far as I’m concerned the Spotify-yet-not-Spotify of reading is one and done:

      🙌 Aqui 😉

      Though I wish all these others all the best!

    • deephdave
      Top reader this weekTop reader of all timeScoutScribe
      2 years ago

      There's another question that has long plagued read-later apps: What happens when the queue gets too long? Every Pocket or Instapaper user has a story about aspirationally saving hundreds of articles to their account before eventually giving up hope of ever reading any of it and ditching the app entirely. Even the most avid readers mostly just read things, make some notes and move on.

      This was happening with me while using Pocket. Thanks to Readup and Notion, now I really read it, tag, and take notes.

    • thorgalle
      Top reader this weekScoutScribe
      2 years ago

      Very interesting article, and I obviously agree that read-it-later apps are ripe for reinvention. I couldn't help but read this with Readup in mind at every line. Many of the concepts pursued by our competitors are definitely interesting and worthwhile (and many we have thought about already as well), still, I feel like we're closing an essential gap.

      It's disappointing how little attention was given to publisher/writer compensation. Stripping ads without replacing revenue is not a sustainable way to create the future of online writing. As a writer, I'd expected Pierce to be more interested in this issue.

      This is the only mention I could find:

      "He also said he might consider compensating publishers down the road. But that relationship figures to be complicated for a long time."

      1. Update (10/3/2021):

        “We always talk about how we want Pocket to feel like stories are being recommended by a good friend and not an algorithm.”

        Ah, yes. The "good friend" analogy. Quoting from the 2016 article "Pocket Wants You To Read Ads Later Too":

        Pocket always planned to monetize with ads, but wanted to wait until it could show them in a way that didn’t suck. It started selling sponsorships in its email newsletter, and brands ate it up. People were so used to having faith in what Pocket said was trending that they clicked the sponsor boxes too.

        The way that is written… ~ people trusted you, so now it's the ideal time to abuse that trust by throwing ads articles at them. It does make me distrustful of Pocket's recommendations - they're an ad company like all the rest.