I agree, but with a caveat.
Google closing reader wasn't RSS' tombstone, for sure.
Rss is stronger than ever and, as pointed out in the article, it's still widely used by small and big players on the Web.
Unfortunately Google Reader was the gateway into the RSS realm for those folks who just wanted a quick way to keep track of their news.
For those folks, who aren't certainly programmer nor can appreciate the subtleties of RSS' survival, RSS is definitively dead.
Those folks are the vast majority of Web users. I think we may say that the most popular front-end usage of RSS has died when Google closed reader.
I don't agree with the void-to-be-filled theory, because that void has been quickly filled already by Twitter, Facebook and other self-sufficing, closed and mind numbing services that have nothing to do with the fluid open nature of RSS. Many many users have quickly shifted to that mindset and they won't be back. Do you think those millions of BuzzFeed reader can give a crap about RSS?
So yeah, you can archive google reader closing shop in the "google's unforgivable mistake" directory.
Source: I'm a web editor (not for English speaking websites as you may have understood) since 2006. I've seen the shift all happen under my eyes. It's sort of disgusting.
I don't agree with the void-to-be-filled theory, because that void has been quickly filled already by Twitter, Facebook and other self-sufficing, closed and mind numbing services that have nothing to do with the fluid open nature of RSS. Many many users have quickly shifted to that mindset and they won't be back. Do you think those millions of BuzzFeed reader can give a crap about RSS?
So yeah, you can archive google reader closing shop in the "google's unforgivable mistake" directory.
Source: I'm a web editor (not for English speaking websites as you may have understood) since 2006. I've seen the shift all happen under my eyes. It's sort of disgusting.