Dan's Papers - September 12, 2008

There are some developments in technology that make me say, "Well, I guess they've thought of everything." Skype was one. How can you be oceans apart and face-to-face at the same time? I'm sure Einstein left that chapter out of his Theory of Relativity.

I had a similar response to the iPhone. Who knew you could play that old wooden labyrinth game on your mobile, moving ball to hole with a shake of hand and touch of finger? Every now and then I feel more a part of the world thanks to the web, and although it's nothing like hiking Mt. Marcy in the fall to watch the colors of the Adirondack trees glow, it's a valid connection. Social scientists have a name for it - they call it ambient awareness.

They say that the incessant online contact is very much like being physically near someone and catching their vibe (mood, body language, sighs, smiles). While these contacts are like tiny snapshots of a moment, the images coalesce over time into a modern-day pointillist portrait of the people you know (and even the ones you don't know that well). But what would talking about this hyper-world be without a mention of tech-oligarch Google? Looks like the people that work at the Googleplex, albeit with all their workspace advantages (gym, sand volleyball court, swimming pools, dinosaur skeletons), have been working hard. Last week they announced the launch of Google Chrome, a new open-source browser intended to create a better web experience for users around the world. Many have said that this is a direct challenge to Microsoft's browser, which is used by three-quarters of Web surfers, and that it will only be a matter of time before we see GoogleOS (operating systems). But you'll only be able to test it out if you are operating on a PC - they say that Chrome for Mac and Linux users will be available in the coming months, but indicate no specific timeline.

Google has style - it's minimalist, simple and clean. They've carried this interface over to Chrome with the idea that the Internet has evolved from simple pages into a powerful platform of applications, videos, music, games, flash, etc. And remember that a browser is a very important aspect to your web experience - it's like the driver in the car, and who doesn't want a Lamborghini? When you download Google Chrome you'll find that there's a combined search-and-address bar that quickly takes users where they want to go in just a few keystrokes. When users open a new tab in Google Chrome, they'll see a page that includes snapshots of their most-visited sites, recent searches and bookmarks, making it even easier to navigate the web. At its core is a multi-process platform that helps provide users with stability and security by designing it so that each browser tab operates as a separate process; should one tab crash or misbehave, others remain stable and responsive, and users can continue working without having to restart. Google also built a new JavaScript engine, V8, which not only speeds up today's Web applications, but also enables a whole new class of Web applications that couldn't exist on today's browsers.

"We think of the browser as the window to the web - it's a tool for users to interact with the web sites and applications they care about, and it's important that we don't get in the way of that experience," said Sundar Pichai, Vice President of Product Management, Google Inc. "Just like the classic Google homepage, Google Chrome has a simple user interface with a sophisticated core to enable the modern web."

If you're interested in some seamless web experience, Chrome can be downloaded at google.com/chrome. It's released in beta for Windows in over 100 countries and in dozens of languages, including Hindi and Estonian.

Whether you're conscious of your ambient awareness, these little slices of life are going to increase with Google Chrome's speed and fewer-strokes-needed technology. Years from now we might think that using Microsoft was like Mr. Magoo driving Miss Daisy.