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Facebook's Browser is Google's Worst Nightmare

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Re: Facebook's Browser is Google's Worst Nightmare

#31

Post by danmaz74 »

cyrus_ wrote: post #7
danmaz74 wrote: post #5

All the user needs that the article lists and that a Facebook browser would answer to (instant notification, always on chat, etc.) could be just as easily be answered by a simple toolbar, on top of another browser. As for the adoption of a FB browser, I would be curious to see how it would fare. I'm pretty convinced that most early adopters which sustained the initial adoption of Firefox and Chrome would never use a…

Facebook probably doesn't need "early adopters" per se. A big banner across the top of Facebook would drive tens of millions of downloads within days and this would generate tons of ambient discussion on Facebook feeds. Assuming normal people don't turn against it (possible if the right frantic all caps messages start being spread around), it would definitely make a dent in IE usage.

From a sociological and geeky point of view, I would be curious to see how this would turn out...

Re: Facebook's Browser is Google's Worst Nightmare

#32

Post by rbarooah »

danmaz74 wrote: post #5

All the user needs that the article lists and that a Facebook browser would answer to (instant notification, always on chat, etc.) could be just as easily be answered by a simple toolbar, on top of another browser. As for the adoption of a FB browser, I would be curious to see how it would fare. I'm pretty convinced that most early adopters which sustained the initial adoption of Firefox and Chrome would never use a…

Why aren't people equally worried about Google becoming the sole owner of the Internet?

Honest question - is it because people are ok with Google being in that role, or because they don't think Google is trying to get into that position?

Re: Facebook's Browser is Google's Worst Nightmare

#33

Post by LaGrange »

rbarooah wrote: post #32
danmaz74 wrote: post #5

All the user needs that the article lists and that a Facebook browser would answer to (instant notification, always on chat, etc.) could be just as easily be answered by a simple toolbar, on top of another browser. As for the adoption of a FB browser, I would be curious to see how it would fare. I'm pretty convinced that most early adopters which sustained the initial adoption of Firefox and Chrome would never use a…

Why aren't people equally worried about Google becoming the sole owner of the Internet? Honest question - is it because people are ok with Google being in that role, or because they don't think Google is trying to get into that position?

Because Google spins things better.

Google has a nerd-friendly message, and produces things that are building dependence and are genuinely useful (like, say, gMail). So, people are less scared of it, and after some time denial kicks in.

Also, I'm bitter because Google is the one software company that I'm scared of more than of Facebook :-D

Re: Facebook's Browser is Google's Worst Nightmare

#34

Post by mcos »

danmaz74 wrote: post #5

All the user needs that the article lists and that a Facebook browser would answer to (instant notification, always on chat, etc.) could be just as easily be answered by a simple toolbar, on top of another browser. As for the adoption of a FB browser, I would be curious to see how it would fare. I'm pretty convinced that most early adopters which sustained the initial adoption of Firefox and Chrome would never use a…

Could they fork a release of Chromium and customize it?

Re: Facebook's Browser is Google's Worst Nightmare

#35

Post by Joakal »

LaGrange wrote: post #33
rbarooah wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why aren't people equally worried about Google becoming the sole owner of the Internet? Honest question - is it because people are ok with Google being in that role, or because they don't think Google is trying to get into that position?

Because Google spins things better. Google has a nerd-friendly message, and produces things that are building dependence and are genuinely useful (like, say, gMail). So, people are less scared of it, and after some time denial kicks in. Also, I'm bitter because Google is the one software company that I'm scared of more than of Facebook :-D

For Gmail, you can withdraw your emails out via IMAP/POP. You can export your contacts.

Re: Facebook's Browser is Google's Worst Nightmare

#36

Post by Joakal »

danmaz74 wrote: post #31
cyrus_ wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Facebook probably doesn't need "early adopters" per se. A big banner across the top of Facebook would drive tens of millions of downloads within days and this would generate tons of ambient discussion on Facebook feeds. Assuming normal people don't turn against it (possible if the right frantic all caps messages start being spread around), it would definitely make a dent in IE usage.

From a sociological and geeky point of view, I would be curious to see how this would turn out...

Look at Google's ad for Plus via their search engine page. It's pretty powerful.

Re: Facebook's Browser is Google's Worst Nightmare

#37

Post by danmaz74 »

rbarooah wrote: post #32
danmaz74 wrote: post #5

All the user needs that the article lists and that a Facebook browser would answer to (instant notification, always on chat, etc.) could be just as easily be answered by a simple toolbar, on top of another browser. As for the adoption of a FB browser, I would be curious to see how it would fare. I'm pretty convinced that most early adopters which sustained the initial adoption of Firefox and Chrome would never use a…

Why aren't people equally worried about Google becoming the sole owner of the Internet? Honest question - is it because people are ok with Google being in that role, or because they don't think Google is trying to get into that position?

Speaking for myself, it is because I see google as something that brings you traffic (and revenue if you use adsense), not as something that tries to bring away your traffic: You go to google to leave it as soon as you find your destination, while you go to facebook to stay there... and facebook is trying to cajole everyone into closing themselves inside their walls, with their pages, their apps, and so on.

Of course, with Google betting so much on G+, this could change. But I can still hope that google will try to differentiate itself from FB, at least in the eyes of developers, by being more outwardly than facebook. If they can make an offer that is more compelling for third parties, not driving them to completely relocate themselves inside the G+ environment, they could benefit from that in the long term.

Re: Facebook's Browser is Google's Worst Nightmare

#38

Post by LaGrange »

Joakal wrote: post #35
LaGrange wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because Google spins things better. Google has a nerd-friendly message, and produces things that are building dependence and are genuinely useful (like, say, gMail). So, people are less scared of it, and after some time denial kicks in. Also, I'm bitter because Google is the one software company that I'm scared of more than of Facebook :-D

For Gmail, you can withdraw your emails out via IMAP/POP. You can export your contacts.

Of course you can. But then you'd be also abandoning the workflow, and I meant dependance on that. Only relatively recently mail clients supporting a workflow similar to Gmail show up.

Re: Facebook's Browser is Google's Worst Nightmare

#39

Post by pixelpublish »

rbarooah wrote: post #32
danmaz74 wrote: post #5

All the user needs that the article lists and that a Facebook browser would answer to (instant notification, always on chat, etc.) could be just as easily be answered by a simple toolbar, on top of another browser. As for the adoption of a FB browser, I would be curious to see how it would fare. I'm pretty convinced that most early adopters which sustained the initial adoption of Firefox and Chrome would never use a…

Why aren't people equally worried about Google becoming the sole owner of the Internet? Honest question - is it because people are ok with Google being in that role, or because they don't think Google is trying to get into that position?

I think people are ok with Google in that role because they are not (obviously) trying.
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