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Flock, the New Browser on the Block
^tamago^ writes to tell us BusinessWeek Online is reporting that a new browser is stepping into the arena. This new competitor, Flock, hopes to change the face of web browsing by turning their's into the swiss army knife of browsers. From the article: "Flock's browser is built specifically for a new, emerging generation of Web users, one that isn't satisfied passively browsing media online. Flock hopes to turn the browser into a dashboard for collaborating, blogging, sharing photos, reveling in a raft of other group activities that have recently caught fire online"
Decrem expects to make money from running Google ads, as well as getting so-called affiliate fees for referring users to commercial sites such as Amazon.com (AMZN ). Moreover, he envisions getting money from other Web services, such as blogging or photo-sharing services, that might pay Flock for sign-ups sent their way from the Flock software.
Is it Opera all over again in terms of its business model?
Or does it sound like a legalized spyware?
What would site owners feel if a browser is competing for Google Ads and referral bonuses with them?
Looks more like a phishing exercise:
Home About Download Extensions Flock has landed.We're introducing the world's most innovative social browsing experience. We call it the two-way web.
Over the next few weeks, we'll be seeding invites to a few lucky folks. Sign up to find out when invites are available:
Thanks for your interest!
Email: And no, we won't spam you, sell your address or do anything else but use this info to let you know when invites are available. We hate spam just as much as you!
Oh and hey, wanna join the flock? We're hiring! So guess what? Send us your resume!
It looks like it won't be doing anything in terms of functionality that a dedicated FireFox user couldn't get via extensions. That said, it doesn't look like it intends to compete on functionality. The name, page layout, and co-opting of GMail's invite viral marketing all make clear that they're going to go for broke on the presentation and marketing. Hey, it worked for the iPod--there are plenty of mp3 players out there with greater functionality, but people like how the iPod looks and will seek it out.
That said, people will pay through the nose for an mp3 player. Between M$'s bundling and the open-source movement, how exactly does a start-up web browser plan to make money? Honestly, if there's a niche in the market I would think it would be for ultra-secure browsers, not for flashy hip browsers.
"Someone somewhere had to wear pants for the first time. The meek and indecisive do not change our world." -Montville
It appears that their site fails to validate, at least according to the W3C Markup Validator.
k .com/home/
l la.orga .comu eror.org
http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http://www.floc
I would have expected the web page of a web browser to at least be standards-compliant. The Mozilla, Opera and Konqueror pages all validate cleanly:
http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http://www.mozi
http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http://www.oper
http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http://www.konq
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
Wired states (http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,68823 ,00.html) that it's based off of Firefox. It is even developed by a member of the Mozilla Foundation. So perhaps a better question to ask would be, Is this browser meant to compete directly with Firefox and Seamonkey?
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
I smell imminent, blatant MPL infringement--unless, they are writing their own code to interpret the xpis (and perhaps ActiveX too, if they want some bizarre sort of extra credit or something).
If they do use Mozilla code, certainly they should have the source code available, as per the MPL, Section 3.6, no? Unless Flock has balls of Fire-proof steel and considers such a license naïve and unconstitutional like SCO or something...
You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
Well thank God we can finally text; and even talk to each other over the Internet. It's about bloody time. Why didn't someone think of this sooner?
KFG