Chrome Tome

A Conversation Starter At Least

Chrome has a strange and almost funny feature, a crashed tab or crashed plugin will display in its place a sad folder icon. I have never seen an emotional web browser like this before. Besides all the other innovations, the geekery under the hood, this is a sure sign that Google meant this browser for consumers at least in some regard, since you don’t add cutesy icons or emotes to a browser to appease geeks and power users. 

Is this the beginning of a trend where software is more user-sociable, more intuitive, more feeling-driven? The strange thing is that many of us will use Chrome daily for several months to come if it isn’t too annoying, and only several years down the road discover the trends set by Google today and the resulting cascade of things to follow because of what they’ve done here. 

In this way, Chrome is like a coffee-table book. Some people actually read coffee-table books, some-people are enthusiasts, but regardless of what happens after today, Chrome is at least a major conversation starter and will ignite the user community on issues such as true browser security and stability, human-focused software development and intuitive gestures, naturally predicting a user’s next move, and plenty more. This is the portion of it that I am looking forward to. I can’t wait to see what will be next in the web market, I can only wonder if the release of Chrome is a huge leap forward in the way we think about the web, I can only hope that it is. 

Whether or not Chrome begins to take away any marketshare from the big two remains to be seen, but during the press conference, it didn’t seem as though Google execs were even concerned with that aspect, they are not all up in arms with ruffled feathers to beat down IE or Firefox, they obviously feel like Chrome is better hands down and everyone who has to put up with the big two will love it. This may not include geeks at first, or power users, since Google has focused initially on the core of the browser, not so much on the extras. The bells and whistles which we all may live and die by, and must have in Chrome will be coming soon, yet the foundation is laid for the future which is an important thing to note. First things first.

If nothing else Google has raised the bar inexorably high for the other browsers to up the ante. At this point, Microsoft’s failure to innovate, instead of just copy the other guys may continue to erode their precious and some would say monopolous deathgrip on marketshare. Mozilla is innovating to be sure, adding truly genius new stuff to their product. Firefox does continue to get better, IE merely looks better, but Google has completely changed the game. The $64,000,000 question is why doesn’t such and such have blank like Google does? That is the question to be asked this year.  photo credit: nipun_kul

Day 1:Download Squad’s Chrome Coverage

I used to write for Download Squad, and though I have moved on from the team there, I still love the site and read every word written every day. They do a great job, and today’s release of chrome is no exception. Here are a few notable links from our beloved DLS:

• First look at Chrome by Jason Clarke
• Is it what you expected? by Lee Mathews
• Omnibar, what is it? also by Jason Clarke
• Why Google Chrome Really Matters by Victor Agreda, Jr.

There is a ton of good content out there, and we will continue to report here on all the good stuff, but for now, go check out DownloadSquad’s excellent coverage to boot, and tell them Chrome Tome sent you.

What is Chrome?

If you haven’t heard the news today, Google just launched their very own web browser called Chrome. It is like Internet Explorer or Firefox in that it interprets, renders, and displays web content. Beyond that, Chrome is quite different from traditional browsers.The reason for a new browser from Google is that the web has evolved, but the way in which we view the web really hasn’t grown with all the applications, the games, and the boatloads of new content out there. Google’s Chrome is an attempt to address modern browser problems with simple, thoughtful, and ingenious ideas that they hope will make you use the web more.

Chrome could be quite revolutionary, but it all depends on the thought that went into it, and what will go into it in the future. Google has done research to try and nail down the exact type of thing the web user, casual or serious wants and doesn’t want in their day to day surfing experience. If this research is spot on it will pay off in the long run, and if not, Google will need to make some adjustments to their strategy and code. This is to be expected. From my chair, it looks like chances are good that Chrome will deliver what Google says and will be loved by millions of people, possibly even before the end of the first day of life. Time will tell.

Chrome’s Pokemon-Like Logo and First Impressions

I know Google developers and owners even are all geeks, you even have to take a really hard test to get hired, but does the logo really have to look like an upgraded Pokeball? I realize that Pokemon were are very popular among the geek culture of the late 90’s, but does Google realize what they are saying albeit somewhat covertly? Google is standing at the bottom of the of the hill, playing “king of the browser” and saying, “look out Microsoft, look out Firefox, Opera, Safari, and whoever else, we’re gonna catch em all, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Perhaps Picasa was supposed to be called something closer to Pikachu and someone missed the memo?

Either way, my first impressions of Chrome are very good, it works well, works fast, and although there is a potential lack of interoperability with many social and web 2.0 services right out of the starting gate, the chances are that this will improve rather quickly. Several people have said that Chrome doesn’t play nice with Firefox bookmark folders, perhaps tinyURL and other such services. Do the benefits outweigh the hassle? AS with any Google product, chrome is in beta, and any beta should be taken with a grain of salt. Beta applications do take time to work their kinks out, as I suspect Chrome will, however the choice of whether of not to put up with Chrome’s inadequacies is one each user will have to make for themselves.

Video: The story of Chrome

Here is the YouTube video from Google on the story of Chrome. Check it out!

CT Phone Chrome

Hello world, this is the static-free Chrome Tome, comming at ya live on the interwebz. We aim to discuss and dismantle Google’s Chrome browser and all things related to it. It was released a few hours ago, and we decided to setup a blog to give Chrome users a place to voice their opinions and join in our take on the browser and what it means for all of us who live on the web and use a browser, or several every day. Please join in, comment, email us at: editor at chrome tome dot com, or hit us up on any of the many social networks we will be bringing online shortly, and enjoy!