ReadWriteWeb

John Milan's latest article for Read/WriteWeb explores the evolving software environment, with particular focus on Microsoft and Google. The article gets us to thinking: is Google the latest manifestation of an Internet bubble, or is it really different this time?

Although comparing two different decades is a little dangerous, perhaps even silly, we can't help but ask:

In our latest poll, we're asking what you think of Personalized Start Pages as an ongoing business. Accel VC Judy Gibbons said in our interview that personalized start pages are under-hyped:

"Personal home pages like PageFlakes & Netvibes [...] represent the third generation of Internet usage: first portals because there was little content and it was hard to find; second search because there was an ever increasing amount of content if you could only track it down; now personalized ‘pull’ home pages, because most sophisticated users know what content and apps they want to check into every day - and they want these brought to them to improve productivity."

Do you agree? Let us know by selecting one of the choices below...

You may also want to check out previous R/WW posts on start pages: Business Models For Start Pages and The Future of Personalized Start Pages.

Given that our post on Webified Desktop Apps vs Browser-based Apps has generated so much discussion, we thought we'd ask you directly which one you prefer? Although almost everybody uses both types of apps, most people seem to have a preference for using one or the other. Tell us what you think, by clicking one of the options below and then the 'Vote' button.

Many thanks to Infacta for the use of their upcoming product (currently in private beta) Poll Daddy. I'm basically testing it out here for the first time publicly!