Farewell iGoogle

This past week Google announced that it would be retiring iGoogle over the next 16 months.  While other tech blogs were asking themselves “What is iGoogle?”  I was mourning the announcement.  iGoogle was Google’s landing page for your web browser.  A place to collect RSS feeds and other useful information to have at your fingertips as you opened your web browser.  Evidently I’m the only one that knew that it existed much less used it on a daily basis.

According to the Google announcement:

iGoogle will be retired in 16 months, on November 1, 2013. The mobile version will be retired on July 31, 2012.

We originally launched iGoogle in 2005 before anyone could fully imagine the ways that today’s web and mobile apps would put personalized, real-time information at your fingertips. 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, giving you a full 16 months to adjust or easily export your iGoogle data.

Even though iGoogle was evidently outdated technology I used it everyday.  Even though I think of myself as being on the cutting edge when it comes to technology and the internet, I was happy with my seven year old home page.  Why?  Because it was comfortable.  After 7 years, iGoogle was just a normal part of my life.  The first thing that I did when I bought a new computer was to set iGoogle as the home page.  I liked it because it was familiar, it did what I asked of it, and I didn’t bother to ask for anything more.  I was content with what I had.

Contentment is usually considered a good quality but that is not always the case.  When it comes to technology not being content with what we have is the driving force behind new and emerging technologies.  When I was a child, I marveled at the Atari Pong game the first time that I saw it in the Sears and Roebuck store at Christmas.  I would have to stop and play with the game hooked to the little television every time I went into the store.  Because we were not content with just swatting the little blip back and forth on the screen the computer gaming industry has thrived.

Over the past couple of days I have searched for a replacement for my beloved iGoogle.  I have enjoyed the discover of the “new technology” that awaited me.  I have found many different ways to receive the information that I had relied on iGoogle to provide.

Contentment is also not a very good quality when it comes to church.  Of course, we want to be comfortable in the environment that we worship but we don’t want to get so content that we become complacent.  When we become complacent in our church we miss all the excitement that comes along with discovering new ways to worship Him.  Contentment in our relationship with Jesus Christ, likewise, deprives us of the joy and wonder that comes with discovering the different ways that He works in our lives each day.

You may be content with your relationship with Christ.  If you are, you are missing out on so much more than you can ever imagine.  Jesus Christ lives in each of our lives and we must continue to explore and grow the relationship that we have with Him each and every day.  If you don’t you may end up with stale “out of date” relationship with Him and miss out on some of the greatest blessings that you will ever know.

Do you have an iGoogle relationship with Christ?