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Google Planning Web Browser?

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the reaching-out dept.

Kick the Donkey writes "John Dvorak has just posted a very interesting, albeit hypothetical, analysis of Google's future directions. Citing the 'unusual' hires of Rob Pike (from Bell labs), Ben Goodger, and Darin Fisher (both from Mozilla) and the acquisition of the gbrowser.com domain, Dvorak speculates that a Firefox based Google browser and Google-OS may soon be coming to a cluster near you."

11 of 387 comments (clear)

  1. Why the jump to OS? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A browser is one thing and apparently the only thing the evidence supports. Why the jump to a Google OS?

    1. Re:Why the jump to OS? by nofx_3 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      A browser is in no way an OS. An operation system by most accounts that I have heard is the program that handles devices, files & filesystem, processes(process manager), and I/O(input/output). What you are talking about is a thin-client system, where a client is connected to a remote server, but in this case there is still and need for I/O, so there at least must be some type of os locally in addition to the browser, which would be in the application layer.

      -kaplanfx

      --
      Visualize Whirled Peas
    2. Re:Why the jump to OS? by HyperChicken · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Nope. They hired Rob Pike and a few others from Bell Labs for their distributed computing knowledge, not because they want to create an OS.

      --
      Free of Flash! Free of Flash!
    3. Re:Why the jump to OS? by LWATCDR · · Score: 4, Insightful

      A Google OS could be an internal project. A better system than Linux for running Google. Plan 9 has a LOT of really good ideas. Maybe they will create a better OS than Linux? Something new that was designed for networks and clusters from day one.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    4. Re:Why the jump to OS? by colmore · · Score: 4, Insightful

      A google linux distro might be good as far as getting a bigger install base for linux, but I don't really see how it would be in Google's best interest overall.

      Even with the star power of their name, they'd get only a very small percentage of Windows users to remove windows or repartition their hard drives.

      If google are going to make an OS it would be some sort of Litestep style explorer.exe / filemanager replacement for windows. Something that could be easily installed (and removed or turned off) over windows that would provide google functionality and branding, as well as advertising.

      Remember, first things first, Google is an advertising company, just like the major broadcast networks. Since they value their future and reputation, they are a pretty benevolent advertising company, but an advertising company nonetheless. A google browser makes a lot of sense in that context. A google linux doesn't.

      anyway, my 2 cents

      --
      In Capitalist America, bank robs you!
  2. With this guy's history... by de+Selby · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Isn't this the John C. Dvorak that has worked in technology for several decades, making many predictions, talking of supposed trends... and being wrong on almost all of them?

    1. Re:With this guy's history... by BasilBrush · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes it is. Quite frankly he's the slowest and least insightful IT journalist there is. I think he's only where he is because his name sounds like he might once have invented a novel typewriter layout.

  3. What's with the stupid google predictions? by passthecrackpipe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    event: Google hired a dark fibre negotiator
    press conclusion: "They must be doing VOIP!"

    event: google hires clever browser developer
    Press conclusion: "They must be doing their own browser!"

    event:Google hired a plan 9 developers
    press conclusion: "They must be doing their own OS!!"

    What's next - google hires a plumber - the end of IT as we know it?

    --
    People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.
  4. Valid or not, it makes sense by saddino · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm sure it doesn't take a roomful of analysts at Google to realize that their greatest vulnerability is in web access. If MS were to embed their "next-generation" search so deeply into the UI experience of a future (Longhorn?) OS that the average consumer would become accustomed to simply using the, say, always visible MS search bar in the Sidebar for all web and desktop searches, Google would be toast. And you can bet Microsoft's roomful of analysts have come to exactly the same conclusion: the way to defeat Google is to make it hard to access Google.

    So, if you're Google, are you going to sit around with your hands in your ridiculously deep pockets and let Microsoft dictate the future growth of your business? Hell no. In fact, recent comments from MS make it clear that war has been declared.

    Defensive strategies are already in the works (e.g. using AdSense to "spread" their ad revenue generation so that it doesn't depend on hits to Google proper) so, how to counterattack?

    Well, Google hires smart engineers and likely equally smart business strategists who know that Firefox's success is a free trial balloon -- and it hasn't popped. Google's best move is to build a browser and challenge MS on its own turf. There's a reason Google is always in need of Windows developers and its not just to work on the Google Toolbar.

    Is Google building an OS? Who knows. But is Google building a browser? They better be.

  5. Re:Forget about Google you guys. by amliebsch · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Face it, unless you seal yourself off, you have no privacy anywhere. How is gmail more invasive than any mailserver, except that it actually does something with the information that passes through its circuits?

    The real question is, who do you trust with that information? Google has worked hard to build trust.

    --
    If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else.
  6. no...because he's rob pike. by Vengie · · Score: 4, Insightful

    No. They hired Rob Pike because he's Rob Fucking Pike. He's the Pike in Kernighan & Pike. K&P and K&R are just about as standard as you can get....who cares if they want to create an OS, a Browser, or just ask him "Bob, what do you think?" -- because quite frankly ANY of those are valid.

    --
    When in doubt, parenthesize. At the very least it will let some poor schmuck bounce on the % key in vi. (Larry Wall)