Google Chrome Browser Why Now?
September 3, 2008
(3 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5)
Loading ...Like any good tech nerd, I waited by the computer until Google’s new browser was ready for download yesterday. The new Google Chrome browser is solid and lightening fast. When you open tabs, thumbnails of your most viewed sites appear on the page, making it easier for you to navigate the the sites you frequent the most. The URL bar is also a search window allowing you
to enter any search term or URL, a handy little feature. Overall, I found the browser to be easy to use and figure out. But it really isn’t much different than what I already have with my Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari browsers.
- Photo Courtesy Google
Why would Google pick now to launch a new browser when so many others are gaining market share from Microsoft? The official word is:
“Since we spend so much time online, we began seriously thinking about what kind of browser could exist if you started from scratch and built on the best elements out there. We realized that the web had evolved from mainly simple text pages to rich, interactive applications and that we needed to completely rethink the browser. What we really needed was not just a browser, but also a modern platform for web pages and applications, and that’s what we set out to build.”
However, it seems much more likely that Google is worried by the increasing ease by which the Firefox and IE browsers allow users to block banner advertising in web sites. If users continue to block ads, many sites will be forced out of business, and Google will lose ad revenue because they only make money when ads are displayed and/or clicked. That is a huge financial incentive for Google to produce a browser that everyone wants but which doesn’t block all those vital ads.
There are also an increasing number of services that Google offers which don’t fit nicely into its stark landing page. As Google continues to develop their services (Google Apps, Maps, Picasa, YouTube, Document readers, etc) they need a better way for users to interface with those applications. As time goes by, the new Chrome browser could become more of a virtual desktop for Googles apps and widgets - a light version of an operating system which will eventually be available for computers and mobile devices of all sorts, including Apple computers and Linux machines.
Microsoft is vulnerable right now due to tremendous competitive product growth by Mozilla, Apple, Google, and others. There is a trend toward web based applications which hold the data online rather that on your desktop. This places Microsoft’s Office products at a disadvantage, something that Google is beginning to capatalize on.
If Google finds a way to differentiate the browser in the short term and creates a persistent tab which acts as a portal to all of a users Google apps, Chrome may just take off. This should be a really fun competition to watch as, Google, Apple, Mozilla, and Microsoft engage in the second great browser war (GBW2).
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Google Chrome Browser Why Now?…
[Source: Telecom Monthly - Telecom News, VoIP, SIP Trunking, Mobile] quoted: As Google continues to develop their services (Google Apps, Maps, Picasa, YouTube, Document readers, etc) they need a better way to interface with those ads. As ti…