Why Google is making an operating system

http://www.maximise.dk/blog/2009/07/why-google-is-making-operating-system.html

by mixmax • 17 years ago

20 15 17 years ago

fiaz4• 17 years ago

FTA: Google won the browser war, with the help of Mozilla. The important point here is that Google doesn't care what browser you use. They don't make money on browsers, they make money on online offerings and apps so all they care about is that your browser is fast and supports the newest technologies.

1) Chrome's market share is minute

2) Google makes over 95% of their money on advertising

I'm not entirely certain how much thought went into this article, but I'm certain that the Google OS hype machine has gone into overdrive as I'm seeing too many articles like this that make absolutely no sense.

mixmax4• 17 years ago

Chrome's market share is minute

Well, that's kind of the point I was trying to make - Google make their money on advertising and webapps, not on browsers. It doesn't matter for their bottomline which browser people use. All that matters to them is that people use google's products, and the fewer roadblocks there are the more money google makes.

Chrome doesn't need to have more than a minute marketshare to drive the competition to make better browsers and more internet capable OS'es, which will ultimately be good for Google. For Google it's not about marketshare in the OS or browser business, it's about driving innovation so that users will move on to the web.

fiaz4• 17 years ago

Ok this is interesting. I agree with you about the roadblock argument to a point. I think where it breaks down is that the browser itself is the choke point for any internet based strategy as it is the gateway to the web for 99.9% of the users out there.

To evolve the browser into something that is closer to the server would eliminate the roadblock of which you speak. I don't think you need to create an OS to do that. IE has a decided advantage for Microsoft as it comes pre-installed and is prominently showcased within the OS itself. The fact that you have to download and then install either Firefox, Chrome, Safari, or Opera presents a roadblock for users. Switching operating systems is an even bigger roadblock.

marcofloriano• 17 years ago

I ask you : Is it good for us ? I feel a certain joy in the air when IT guys talk about how google is doing well and microsoft doing bad. Like if it is good for the rest of us. It´s not. We cant have just one company owning the market, specially the internet market. It´s bad for the users, we need more googles, mor companys winning the internet war. If the Microsoft still being the number one enemy of google, so we already lost as users.

mixmax4• 17 years ago

This is very interesting. And very important.

Any big company will eventually "turn to the dark side", not because they want to but because that seems to be the dynamic of large corporations. After all they only have to answer to shareholders, and shareholders demand profits no matter what the cost.

Google has done a good job of resisting this with their Don't be evil motto and trying to retain control of the boardroom. But I fear that it's an oncoming tide that not even Larry and Sergey can stem.

murrayh• 17 years ago

My Dad uses bing.com, because that's the default. My Dad often clicks on ads. I think the Google OS is just a way to make google.com the default for people like my Dad.

Why Google is making an operating system

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