Read later
My latest post generated a few emails from people suggesting alternatives to my semi-manual Instapaper solution. The back-and-forth convinced me to describe how I use read later services.
I knew about the suggested solutions already, so why didn’t I choose either of the open source Wallabag or Omnivore? As I said to Gabriel Augendre and Peter Hogg, who correctly assumed I’d be interested in owning more of my data, I don’t use read later services like I usually see other people doing. To me they’re not bookmarks, or something that I might want to go back to in the future. It’s a short-time transitory place where I put articles and videos that I am going to read and watch within a week. If I really like something, I save it in PDF, markdown, or mp4 to my computer.
Instapaper is discrete, quiet, well designed. I like exporting articles in ePub and load them on my Kobo: the manual process helps with the feeling of having some sort of personal magazine, that I can then read at my pace. Lastly, I’m in a place where I’m not keen on tinkering, and self-hosting takes time that I don’t currently have.