Google Reader is a social service that was free. Google is a company that makes a lot of money, just not on that thing. The product was added to a "projects to cut" list in an email by a Google executive, and the next day it was axed.
Twitter bought Posterous for the talented team. A year later, the service is axed.
This is why things like Newsblur or Posthaven should exist for certain types of socially valuable purposes -- it's a paid service that won't go away. Because, well, money.
> Its creators are also inspired by Google Reader’s recent demise
What does a demise of a Google product has to do with another totally different product by a different company?