Thoughts on Google Chrome
So most of the coverage of Google’s new browser, Chrome, centers on it as a “Windows killer.” But this framing is a little off. Google isn’t trying to compete with Explorer or kill Windows, although I’m sure they’d love to. Google released a webcomic by the infinitely talented Scott McCloud to illustrate the story of Chrome, its goals, and what fundamentally differentiates it from existing browsers.
Chrome enables better memory allocation by treating processes separately (more like a modern os than a browser) and it’s open source. Handling processes separately is very important for Google because their web applications place more demands on memory usage than traditional browsers. And there’s a payoff for users too. If one web page or web app hangs, anything else you have open in Chrome won’t.
Google is investing in Chrome as an open source product not to compete with existing browsers but to encourage them to innovate with Chrome’s code to be able to better support the memory demands of Google apps.
Also, Google can now leverage their own browser on their mobile platform, Android, much like Apple is leveraging Safari on the iPhone. Hopefully this integration will result in a cohesive user experience across the new platform.
The fact that media coverage has overlooked Google’s stated positioning of Chrome, reflects the awkward choice of promoting the product with a 30+ page webcomic. I still think McCloud is a genius as a visual communicator (if you haven’t read Understanding Comics I highly recommend it), but come on Google. Why pick this medium that demands time to read and attentiveness for such an important product promotion?
09/03/08 by mark in technology, web.
