Why Google Chrome Launched With A Cartoon
By now everyone should have heard about Google Chrome, the new web browser made by Google, as it has garnered loads of international press. For the tech crowd it may be easy to see what Google is up to, but for those not embedded in the internet the quick version of it is that Google is trying to turn the web into an OS ( OS stands for Operating System, Windows and OSX are operating systems). An operating system is basically something that can run applications. More and more applications are being created on the web. Look at Gmail, it is basically a e-mail application like Microsoft’s Outlook, or Apple’s Mail. Even Facebook is a web application. This makes Chrome much more then just another web browser to add to your dock, at least in the long term.
It is first important to understand why Google would have so much interest in pushing the internet to become the next operating system. The simple answer is that the more people use the internet the more money Google makes. Google’s core business is internet advertising, there are few websites you go to where you don’t find a box with ads by Google. They serve up targeted ads based on content of a website. The more websites, the more ads Google can serve, the more they can rake in. Also, the larger the internet becomes the more valuable Google’s ability to organize is.
Web browsers are gatekeepers to the web, they access and display all the information contained in the internet. Browsers started off as a way to display basic scientific information, since then developers have pushed the possibilities of code, extending the power of HTML, adding CSS, using JavaScript for dynamic functionality. But with all developing we the internet has hit a roadblock into advancing to the next level. For one, can you ever imagine an application like Photoshop running on an internet browser? There have been many attempts, but they all fall short. Actions don’t get processed fast enough, you can’t really impliment keystrokes well, something is lacking without the solid bedrock of an normal OS.
To give a web browser that same solidity is very difficult, and it is a challenge that none of the current browers are up for. The top three browsers right now are Firefox by Mozilla, Internet Explorer by Microsoft, and Safari by Apple. IE and Safari have no interest in turning the web into an operating system because their makers core business is their computer based operating system. Firefox, while surely interested in turning the web into an OS, simply does not have the resources to do such a thing — they are almost purely supported by Google as it is. Faced with this Google had to make a play. At the end of the day it may not care if Chrome is the most popular browser, it just cares that browsers develop to the point that the internet becomes a substantial OS.
This point couldn’t be more clear after witnessing how Google chose to annonce its new browser with a 39 page cartoon. Check out the cartoon here:
Some of the topics may be over the head of people without some familiarity with coding, but regardless it is very interesting to check out. Of course this cartoon was intended for developers. The cartoon constantly reminds that the entire browser is open source, meaning that ANYONE including Apple and Microsoft can steal any of the features for their own browser. It also mentions a number of times that they are interested in advancing the conversation of the web. Perhaps more important then the browser its self was this cartoon, which was surely read by 10,000’s of web developers. For any developer to see the potential of what a browser can be, it will intensify the demand for a such a browser. Without this cartoon fleshing out in detail the infrastructure changes etc. the launch of this browser would have just looked like a faster more stable browser with a cool new idea for a homepage. But they needed to make it plain an clear to the developer community what the actual intentions are. So if you choose to download the new browser know that you are not just using a faster browser but you are pushing the boundaries of the internet.
Download it here:
Check out TechCruch’s first post revealing the new browser. For those of you not familiar with TechCrunch it is the second most popular blog in the world and covers internet technologies. If this post interests you would would good to make it a daily destination.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/01/no-joke-google-introduces-its-own-browser-with-a-cartoon/