The dust settles, dimming Chrome’s lustre

Sandlines — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:57:39 +0000

Over on eConsultancy, blogger Drama 2.0 has posted an interesting look at Google’s much-heralded new browser, Chrome, and pointing to the disappointment that seems almost palpable for its lack of ‘points of difference’.

Chrome: last amongst equals?

I’ve used Chrome a bit – and I note that some Sandlines readers do, too – and somewhat more than the average figure shown in Drama 2.0′s report (which were 0.85% trending down to 0.77%).

But what does it offer that’s different? Currently, nothing dramatic – in fact, it misses a lot of the plugins that make Firefox my browser of choice (CoolIris, Delicious integration…).

There are some small nice-to-haves, but it feels more like a marker (some might say a line in the sand!) than a fully fledged competitive offering.

One thing seems sure: the enthusiastic “Chrome will take over the world” response to its initial (high) take up looks premature. Once again, substance will have to out over hype.

What I was hoping for was something to live up to the claim that Chrome would rethink the way we use the internet. It was going to unleash a new ability to support cloud computing. It was the browser built for the multiplex cinema experience the internet can be in today’s Web 2.0/tomorrow’s Web 3.0 world, rather than the hushed libraries of Web 1.0.

Maybe I’ve got the wrong prescription contact lenses, ’cause I can’t see it in the Chrome 1.0.

Death knell too?

Sandlines — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:34:52 +0000

I smell a rat – one of a somewhat self-serving nature.

Over on ZDNet, Harry Debes, CEO of non-SaaS provider Lawson, has given SaaS just two years to live. OK guys, time for us all to pack up then.

At least, that is, until Cloud Computing takes over…

Meanwhile perhaps Mr Debes thinks he can still shift a few units before the next acronym/buzzword hits…

Sandlines » Cloud Computing

The dust settles, dimming Chrome’s lustre

Death knell too?