The internet changed for me the day the Reader died. Actually, in hindsight, for me personally, internet died when the Reader died.

There are decent alternatives. Personally I use newsblur, and I like having a feed that contains only sources I've chosen.

Yep. My aspirations about how the internet was going to enable a brighter, better future for people, were instantly transformed, and instead we saw the power of tech corporations acting in their own interests. How naive I was.

Google shutting down Reader did encourage me to learn to host my own services though, which I am pretty thankful for.