Sunday, September 07, 2008

2008 a Chrome Odyssey

Did Stanley Kubrick join Google marketing?

Ever since Chrome released it's been like watching the online monkeys beat the monolith with bones like the intro of 2001 a Space Odyssey.

Sometimes people just make me want to smack them upside the head the way Gibbs dishes it out to DiNozzo on NCIS.

First, Google releases a beta product and everyone starts reviewing it like it's a finely polished shipping product. For those of you not in the software business there are various levels of beta which typically evolve into final beta, meaning that all features are frozen for that release, Then comes a beta gold candidate which appears to be as bug-free as possible and is about to become a shipping product. The initial release of Chrome is an obvious real beta that they want feedback on so get over it, it's an early beta, it's no where close to a final beta IMO but it's a damn good first release.

Second, a whole bunch of people are trying to steal Google's thunder comparing it to MSIE 8 primarily, which is also still in beta. If Google didn't already have those features coded then they wouldn't be in their initial beta either. It's not like someone at Google woke up on a Monday, read the MSIE 8 feature list, and wrote a whole bunch of new features for Chrome that just showed up in the release on Tuesday, get real. Most of those features were obviously in the works for quite some time but MSIE 8 was publicly known opposed to the closely held secrets of Chrome.

Thirdly, it's mostly just desperate cries for attention and link bait for people that have nothing better to do than bash Google on a good day and how there's more fuel for the fire.

Just remember, the first version of Firefox wasn't much to write home about which was initially distressing considering it's Netscape heritage, but it got better in a hurry until they bloated up Firefox 3, what a slug.

Additionally, Chrome is built on the same rendering engine that runs Safari so it has a lot of history already and should be pretty solid except for it's handling of some plug-ins which will be fixed.

Overall, I'm hopeful that Chrome gets the bugs patched quickly because I love the speed and snappy page displays like you get with Opera without all the javascript quirks.

I just hope it ships with add-on capability or more java script control like Firefox's NoScript and I'll be a happy boy.

Remember people, it's JUST BETA, give them a chance to polish it up.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think what was really funny about Chrome is that they had it as a download on the homepage of Google.com. Untill someone reminded them that this was effectively packaging a browser with there main product just as Microsoft had been accused of with IE.

Boy they couldn't get that link off the homepage fast enough....

Anonymous said...

Safari, not a great browser everyone I know uses Apple downloads firefox. Maybe theres a market oppourtunity there for IE as well...

Chrome seems to me Safari repackaged for windows, its dull its boring a bit like Stanley Kubrick's 2001 a Space Odyssey.

Don't get me wrong Kubrick was a great director he did classics such as "The Shining" and "Full Metal Jacket" just as google I am sure are great software writers but Chrome like 2001 will only ever gain a small following because its boring.

Anonymous said...

"it's been like watching the online monkeys beat the monolith with bones like the intro of 2001 a Space Odyssey"

Thats all that anyone remembers about "2001 a Space Odyssey". We see this space ship with some nice music docking, then a few cave men whacking themselves over the head with clubs and then nothing. We either switch to another channel or fall asleep.

I swear take the person with the worst case of insominia in the world. Put them infront of "2001" they will be asleep by the time the last ape battered the other ape over the head.

I don't believe there is a single person in the world that has stayed awake till the end of "2001 a Space Odyssey".

I heard that at the cinema they used to have to pretend there was a fire to wake people up at the end of the film. Its hard to imagine something more boring.........Ah yeah google chrome.

Anonymous said...

Eh, the only thing that bothers me about Chrome is Google already knows too much about me. If I could prevent everything I do with Chrome from being looked at by Google I'd still be using it. Especially on my laptop where all I want is a fast browser and none of the whistles and bells I like and need on my desktop.

Why haven't you commented on this privacy aspect of Chrome, Bill?