What if Google Shut Down?

I just received the following email message:

I am writing to let you know that the project which has sustained the Emerge site has come to an end.

After a long deliberation we have decided that the Emerge Elgg site should not continue to operate in its current form.

From midnight 31 March/1 April 2009 we will discontinue log-in to the Emerge Elgg site and suspend all feeds into this site.

I would like to thank you all who have been instrumental in creating a vision a community of practice, supported by Web 2.0 technologies.

The site will be suspended, archived, read-only and searchable. Only posts made to the site that were designated \"public\" will be visible. Participants\' \"Pages\" and \"Profiles\" will continue to be visible. All url persistence will be maintained. All Data will be retained and protected under existing data protection and freedom of information policies.

For a thorough discussion of the Emerge Project, please read the Emerge Reports site.

One key message from our analysis is that a community has many modes of participation. It would be a mistake to assume that the presence of a website indicates either the presence or absence of a community. There is a network of people who have been very active in creating the Users and Innovation Programme and the Emerge community. This network of people persists. Discussions are ongoing concerning how this network might make its presence visible on the Internet or if a site similar to this one might be required.

If you have any queries or comments contact webmaster@jiscemerge.org.uk.

George Roberts

I was just thinking how happy I am that I did not devote too much energy and time to the learning environment but what if I had? What if Google decided to shut down?
Where would may of us be if our favorite personal and professional learning environments went bankrupt and had to close down? Are we ready to give up our work?