Google Chrome started as a browser, and will soon be an operating system. Combined with some of the other Google-based capabilities, it looks more and more like Google is trying to move the desktop to the web.
When Google Chrome (the browser edition) made it’s appearance, I thought it was interesting enough to write a book about it. Here was Google, the first company in a long time to take a shot at Microsoft by putting out a browser that really does rival Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Yes, there is some functionality missing, but not so much to make it difficult to use. And it gets better every time the browser is updated. In the back of my mind, though, I was pondering what Google might be planning. Make no mistake, Google is not moving forward with whimsy, playing with whatever software happens to interest Googelites. There is a plan. Google Chrome Operating System, combined with the growing interest in small form factor Internet devices (we know them as netbooks) illuminated the whole plan. Google’s tapping into a market that I’ve seen coming for quite some time. The growth of Internet-enabled cell phones has been phenomenal. In fact, it’s estimated that lower-income families are giving up their broadband Internet connections for web-enabled phones because it’s less expensive than buying a computer and paying for an Internet service. So, it makes sense that a move into the netbook world would be on Google’s long-range plan. Why? Well, it’s likely that within a year, netbooks will be in the affordable range–around $99. And with Android in the background, and Chrome up front, Google stands able to storm the netbook market. And my guess is, that’s the first step to a larger move toward moving the desktop entirely to the web. But that’s a discussion for my next post…
