The Untimely Death of iGoogle?

A couple days ago—as I’ve done nearly every day for the past several years—I flipped open my laptop and took a look at my homepage. Only this time was a little different. There was a small notice at the top of the screen alerting me to what appears to be the impending end of my daily source of inspiration and information: iGoogle.

iGoogle is my daily information dashboard

I have been an iGoogle fan and advocate from day one. Customizing it over time to meet my needs; helping friends and family configure it to meet theirs. When Google added the ability for users to include multiple tabs, I created sections. I never cared much for applying themes or incorporating gimmicky gadgets. I use iGoogle like my own personalized daily newspaper with curated RSS feeds and social aggregators. At a glance I could see the top trending posts on Reddit, Hacker News, Buzzfeed, Twitter, CNN, Mashable, and a number of other blogs. iGoogle is my daily information dashboard.

Evidently, Google has decided that the product is no longer viable:

With modern apps that run on platforms like Chrome and Android, the need for something like iGoogle has eroded over time, so we’ll be winding down iGoogle on November 1, 2013.

The need for a singular customizable information dashboard has eroded? Not for me. Interestingly, the alternatives that Google offers are primarily mobile (Android) apps, and Chrome browser widgets. The closest app I’ve found to iGoogle is Flipboard which is a fantastic app, but not really the same thing.

I’m completely on board with the idea that people are moving heavily toward tablets and smartphones becoming their go-to Internet device, but I’m taken aback that Google seems to think the personalized homepage is on its last legs. Why not retool iGoogle as a responsive HTML5 app that could work across any browsing experience?

Hell, if Google won’t do it, maybe I will. I can’t be the only person who sees value in this kind of customized information dashboard.

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