I'm not sure if the question is aimed at geeks (ie HN crowd) or in general, but my own observations from previously working at a leading news website indicates that people find the lack of visual aesthetic disappointing in News Readers.
Images are often not included in RSS feeds, and if they are are then they are only shown once you are viewing an item.
When we are triaging which stories to read on a news/blog site, imagery plays an important as we scroll and select - and I don't think I've seen any RSS readers which show you a feed item's images at the story selection level.
The lack of site aesthetic/look and feel maybe less important to geeks but end-consumers also miss that when they are viewing news stories in a reader. In other-words, when I read CNN's feed in my reader I don't get any of CNN's site aesthetic.
Finally, don't forget comments and also the serendipity of suggested related content -- both of which are also missed out when we read stories in a news reader.
Images are often not included in RSS feeds, and if they are are then they are only shown once you are viewing an item.
When we are triaging which stories to read on a news/blog site, imagery plays an important as we scroll and select - and I don't think I've seen any RSS readers which show you a feed item's images at the story selection level.
The lack of site aesthetic/look and feel maybe less important to geeks but end-consumers also miss that when they are viewing news stories in a reader. In other-words, when I read CNN's feed in my reader I don't get any of CNN's site aesthetic.
Finally, don't forget comments and also the serendipity of suggested related content -- both of which are also missed out when we read stories in a news reader.