Google Shutdowns Continue: iGoogle, Google Video, Google Mini & Others Are Killed | TechCrunch
Google is continuing to shut down services which aren’t core to its business – something it has been actively doing ever since Google co-founder Larry Page took over as CEO. Today, the tradition continues as Google is announcing the shuttering of five more services, the most notable of which are Google Video and iGoogle, its personalized homepage offering.
Clearly iGoogle has outlived its usefulness. The service dates back to a time when homepage portals were people’s entry points to the Internet. These days, we just never close our browser tabs, it seems. iGoogle is getting the ax on November 1st, 2013, which is far enough away for users to export their data, says Google.
Another big-name closure is Google Video, a service which has long been overshadowed by Google-owned YouTube. It’s actually surprising that Google Video is still up-and-running, given that it stopped accepting uploads in May 2009. Google Video’s shutdown is arriving much sooner, however, so if you’ve dragged your feet in moving videos over to YouTube, now is the time. Google Video is no more as of August 20th.
via techcrunch.com
I was an early adopter of iGoogle and it was my homepage for a long time. Couldn’t get by without it. And then a couple years ago (?) Google “upgraded” it with sidebars and other completely destructive features that were impossible to shut off. It was Google that destroyed iGoogle with user-hostile design decisions; it wasn’t general net advancement.
Back when that happened I switched to http://netvibes.com as my permanent homepage. It has all the functionality of the original iGoogle and more. Anyone looking to create a personal news/homepage/searchpage that’s shareable may want to look at netvibes.
Ah yes, remember the quaint olden days when we used to occasionally log off
Those where simpler times~