Matt
almost perfectly sums up my relationship with Google reader: "Here's what I've come to realize about myself: I fully accept that there's not a particular link in that ridiculous heap that will change my life. It's been a while since I worried about missing a single killer post or app or XKCD or whatever; if it's valuable enough, it'll find me, I got it."
Later on he also wonders something I've been asking myself (and some reader folks) since I got started: "Google, I want you to give me a button labeled 'Compress into diamonds.' When I click that button, spin your little algorithmic wheels and turn my reader into a personalized Memeorandum. Show me the most linked-to items in the bunch, and show me which of my feeds are linking to them. And take it a step further. You've got all that trends data that reflects the items I'm reading. Underneath the hood might very well be data about the links I click on in those posts. Use that information about me to compress my unread items into diamonds I will find uniquely wonderful."
Google Reader is already turning into an awesome personal search engine, why shouldn't it also act as your personal
memeorandum? (And if it doesn't, I've been thinking for a long time this is a really good idea for a startup.)