For years, I’ve been telling people I want to get away from Google, but I keep finding myself using more and more Google products: Gmail, GoogleTalk, Gchat, Google Analytics, Google Docs, Picasa … The list goes on and on. Oh yeah, and Google search.
But while Google’s certainly convenient, I’m not really comfortable with having all my data in one company’s hands, even if their motto is “Don’t be evil.” So I’ve started building my own iGoogle-like dashboard right on my very own site, using Drupal. It’s been surprisingly easy, and with about 2 hours work, I could embed my RememberTheMilk to do list, package tracking, my upcoming stories for the week, check Facebook, and more:
And it’s all within an interface I have complete control over, can back up easily, and can modify to the smallest detail. Drupal even makes it easy to sort things into neat columns.
Full disclosure: I’m kinda cheating a little bit, because I’m still using Google Gadgets for my webpage, but at least it’s a step in the right direction, and much of that functionality wouldn’t be hard to reproduce piecemeal in a 100% Google-free way.
So, what would you put in your own custom Google-free iGoogle page?