I’ll start this article with a couple of disclaimers: this is not a new product, and Apple had absolutely nothing to do with it. That said, behold iGoogle, the latest incarnation of the Google Personalized Home Page.
Yeah, yeah, I know the name makes it sound as if Apple was involved, and it seems as if Google knew an explanation would be in order. Sophia Brueckner, an iGoogle software engineer, wrote on the Official Google Blog that “[f]or a while now, we Googlers have used a bit of shorthand to refer to the Personalized Homepage – a name that connotes interactivity, the Internet, and personalization all at once.”
Two out of three of those words start with “i,” hence (I suppose) “iGoogle.”
The name isn’t very popular, though. PC World’s Harry McCracken has launched a poll in which 40 percent of the respondents (238 people) have called it “lame” and 12 percent (143 people) dubbed it “confusing.” Google may have been better off with the unwieldy “Google Personalized Home Page,” although this fresh publicity won’t hurt.
In any case, there is more to this story than a new name. “Anyone can create Google Gadgets for iGoogle and send them to friends,” Brueckner continued. “Simple gadget templates include a photo gadget, a ‘GoogleGram’ greeting card-style gadget, a YouTube video channel gadget, and a free-form gadget.” Some new themes have also been added.
Last, but not least, Brueckner wants you to know that “we’re making iGoogle available in 22 new locales.” In my estimation, that’s 22 new places in which people are going wonder what happened between Google and Apple.
