One more thing...

Just to add to my recent post on personalized Ajax-enabled desktops: I think about what my Internet browsing experience was before I started using a RSS reader (Bloglines for me). Before RSS, I would spend split my time on the web doing two things... 1) searching for new content/data via Yahoo/Google/eBay or 2) checking my favorite sites (many of which I had a hard time remembering) for new content.

Now I spend all of #2 using my RSS reader to aggregate content of my choosing. The jump from aggregating news/content to unifying news/content AND services is no real jump at all. Why not combine a Yahoo Search service, eBay Commerce service, Box.net file storage with Meebo IM under one Ajax-enabled personal home page? Add in an RSS reader for content and I now have 95% of my Internet experience captured on one page which I carry with me wherever I go. Unless the big portals open up their home pages to the complete diversity of web services available and let me carve out unwanted content/ads, a complete personalized experience is obviously preferable than one dictated to me.