Image via CrunchBaseShock and awe, Google’s Ipage just got some serious eye candy this morning. The shock was seeing the change to the page, and some of the broken bits like email, the awe was that this is actually not too bad a change. The coolest part is what they did to the feeds.
The left hand navigation just got a bit more interesting as shown in the picture below, left hand navigation now takes up some 5% of the page, and is a link to the places you have your feeds connected to, but it also shows off the feeds right next to that with a small blurb, the first two lines of the blog entry or feed entry.
This is not too bad because previously they were only showing off the title of the article, so those folks who write bad titles have a better chance of seeing their stuff clicked on it they use a good attention grabber in their first two lines of the article.
We’ve also replaced the tabs at the top with a left navigation that allows for access to any gadget with one click. We’re very excited about these changes because it makes iGoogle a more useful homepage and a better platform for developers. And this is just the beginning: Expect to see more canvas gadgets created by developers and more new features on iGoogle soon. Not in the U.S.? Don’t worry. We’ll also be rolling out this updated version in other countries very soon. Source: Google Blog
Overall, this is ok, but not something you want to wake up to in the morning. It is those overnight changes that disconnect users. Plus there is no roll back, if you had something on the page that you liked and didn’t show up this morning, there is no way to recover it without going back and doing it again. Overall ok, but as with all changes, this one was sudden, shocking, and in the end awe inspiring.
Now if they could just get their e-mail back on track.
Tags: google, ipage, redesign, shock and awe, shock, awe, change, email, broken, interesting
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Forget iGoogle. Move on with Netvibes http://www.netvibes.com with a how-to-migrate
BAD MOVE!!! I want my old set up back. This takes up page space, crunching my columns together.
I HATE IT!!!!
Richard – I hate to say it but netvibes sucks, well that is my personal opinion, and since I don’t use the service after checking it out, eh, buyers beware on netvibes because it really does suck.
Paula, interesting, I am using a 20 inch monitor, and didn’t see the issues you saw. Does monitor size matter? It might, what size monitor are you using? Just curious if it could be something like that.
I have a 17″ monitor at work, 19” at home. I hate the new left hand navigation equally from both. I want the option to turn it off.
I don’t like the new page. It’s too busy. I prefer to hover the mouse over the headlines I want to see more of and click on the link if I want to read the article. I hope Google changes it back, or at least provides the option to have the page view the way it looked before this.
I agree with Marie and others. I had my iGoogle page just right. Even expanding gagets is not simple anymore.
I read about a site today called 43marks.com – its like iGoogle but better cuz you can add you own bookmarks and the bookmarks can be websites not just gadgets and RSS feeds although you can upload your favorite RSS feeds too. Its free and totally customizable. Plus you don’t have to login to see your bookmarks and RSS feeds cuz they give you a unique URL