Well, you know, it's kinda nice to see something like Google Chrome come out; I've always felt the Browsers we've had are kind of sucky - even FireFox - doesn't work all that well a lot of the time (esp with playing Online Videos, it often runs out of memory).
Tonight, Steve Rubel wrote about Google Chrome in a post titled How Globalization Handed One Blogger a Big Scoop in his blog, Micro Persuasion; see what Steve has to say, below:
Philipp Lenssen has long been one of my favorite bloggers. He co-authors one of the best blogs on Google, which is also one of my obsessions. Today he scored a big scoop.
Google's long awaited web browser is launching tomorrow. If you're reading this Tuesday or later, the browser is supposed to be here.
So how did this happen? This is just my analysis. I haven't confirmed with Philipp (who I have known for years). But I suspect globalization is totally to blame.
You see, Philipp blogs out of Germany, where there was mail service today. So a comic book tease from Google that probably every big US tech blogger is going to receive tomorrow once the US Post Office re-opens, was in Philipp's mailbox today. Oops.
Steve makes his post about Globalization, while I don't really think that's particularly important here - I guess he got his comic book in the mail one day early from the rest of us (I don't know if Google is sending me a comic book or not - I guess I'll find out tomorrow).
I read part of the Comic book online (up to page 8); the rest would not load - I guess everyone is trying to read the same file at the same time and even Google has limits to what it can handle.
While reading the official Google Post on A fresh take on the browser I was tempted to also read in my own idea of what Google's mission really is - it's not about Search anymore, and hasn't been, for some time. What Google's real mission is ... as far as I can tell ... is to re-engineer all web based business processes into superior versions Google can run. Read what they said in their blog:
".. Under the hood, we were able to build the foundation of a browser that runs today's complex web applications much better. By keeping each tab in an isolated "sandbox", we were able to prevent one tab from crashing another and provide improved protection from rogue sites. We improved speed and responsiveness across the board. We also built a more powerful JavaScript engine, V8, to power the next generation of web applications that aren't even possible in today's browsers.
This is just the beginning â€" Google Chrome is far from done. We're releasing this beta for Windows to start the broader discussion and hear from you as quickly as possible. We're hard at work building versions for Mac and Linux too, and will continue to make it even faster and more robust."
In a way, they're kinda right - they can do it better, in most cases - but ... aren't they beginning to swallow up more and more opportunities for others to innovate and provide services?
And let's be clear about it - TechCrunch's Michael Arrington thinks this is another "War" between Google and Microsoft to dominate the Web's operating systems - see Meet Chrome, Google's Windows Killer
Make no mistake. The cute comic book and the touchy-feely talk
about user experience is little more than a coat of paint on top of a monumental hatred of Microsoft.
Ha, Ha, it reminds me of the Twilight Zone's episode of To Serve Man - it's a Cookbook!
After all - suppose Google Chrome becomes the dominant Browser in a year or two - and Firefox and IE8 are eclipsed - more and more, Google will not only control Search, but also control the content and the delivery mechanism of the content (the browser).
As Google becomes bigger and bigger - it becomes one gigantic services company - basically, a more intelligent version of IBM, that makes it easier for the end user to do stuff - but Google will own everything in between it - and you.
Where does that leave everyone else?
By the way, here's a chart of major influencers for the Google Chrome Story from Radian6
The most engaging blog post, by the way, on Google Chrome, is the one that broke the story - Google Chrome, Google's Browser Project
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