Google announced today that it will launch a much anticipated Google Chrome web browser tomorrow in 100 countries. Due to the nature and wallet size of Google I’m excited to see the innovations they launch with the Chrome but I ask the question “When is too much too much?”
Google’s is releasing Chrome as an open source project which in my eyes is to deter monopoly accusations. That being my main area of concern, Google already owns a good portion of what goes on inside the browser and now they take that next step of controlling the browsing experience as well. It is also clearly another stab at Microsoft and Internet Explorer as these two 800 pound gorillas battle it out as internet super powers. Not to also mention this may be Google’s way of getting back at Microsoft their attempts to leverage their monopoly in promoting MSN Search over Google.
Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge fan of Google and their innovations, but myself, like many users, are completely dependent upon Google(whether we admit it or not). Now giving Google that extra piece of the pie could be too much? My fear is that Google will use the Chrome just as Microsoft used its monopoly power in operating systems to force Internet Explorer on the millions of PCs. Before you know it each time you log into your gmail, google docs, google calendar, etc. you will be “suggested” to download Chrome completely destroying the innovators of web browsers like Firefox and Safari(two web browsers completely ahead of the curve compared to Internet Explorer) who have set the standards for years.
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Safari a web innovator? I’m pretty sure its first release was in 2003 and didn’t make its way to the pc until 2007. Mozilla on the other hand has been at it for years with the Netscape revisions. Firefox is great and all but tabbed browsing and greasemonkey aren’t radically changing my life. It’s just another browser, a window that renders html and embedded app gizmos like flash to do things the browser isn’t designed to do.
I’ll never understand the school of thought that a browser is innovative. It’s really more of an interpreter than anything. The web apps themselves and relentless competition are the things that drive innovation, not browsers. New browser releases generally just add to the endless list of incompatibilities of all browsers. They are usually just different, not better, as is the case with most software.
I normally don’t leave comments on blogs but the idea of Safari being old school innovator caught me as naïve. As far as chrome, it’s just another browser. Google really has nothing to do with what goes on inside my html (web), which is being interpreted by whatever flavor browser you like that day. If they did, the internet would be so boring and out of the box I’d find different wastes of my time.