Well, we’re into day three and a half of the Chrome experience. And as the initial excitement dies down, we’re starting to notice a few niggles – plus some nice little features that aren’t immediately obvious.
Thankfully, most of our problems are minor bugs, which will hopefully be fixed in short order, either by Google or by website developers. For example, the button for switching between the old and new Facebook interfaces doesn’t currently work in Chrome. And despite its multi-process cleverness, the whole thing grinds to a halt when it tries to launch Adobe Reader (though in fairness, what doesn’t?). Read the rest of this entry »
I was thumbing through the first ever issue of PC Pro today, chortling at how young everyone looks and how much the state-of-art laptops of the day cost (£3,500, since you asked), when I came across this:
Quite possibly the most tasteless, ill-conceived and downright stupid advert for a PC company I’ve ever seen.
The company in question is called IPC Direct, which is, to the best of Google’s knowledge, no more: no doubt thanks to its genius advertising team.
Have you seen any worse? Let me know on comments below if so.
“A new range of MESH PC’s were launched today, showcasing the latest designs for those customers who are after a little bit more style from their PC,” trumpets the press release that dropped into my inbox this morning.
And here she is:
Mesh wasn’t kidding when it said “a little bit” was it?
There’s something in the air. In fact, look closely and you can see it. Up there, white and fluffy, and apparently full of exciting new technology. You see, all the best new technologies are moving to the cloud, and if you haven’t moved your data to the cloud yet… well, heaven forfend.
I’ve just deleted filed two press releases in the space of two minutes that sell themselves on the back of cloud computing. The first was from respected backup specialists EMC: “EMC has today announced its first major step into cloud computing as EMC Mozy and Lenovo will now offer unlimited online backup for SMBs” to quote the first line - head to Lenovo’s Protect My Data site for details.
PC Pro inboxes see their fair share of press releases that are full of rubbish about the ‘user experience’ and providing customers ’solutions’ to problems that really don’t exist.
It seems to have reached a new zenith this week: in a presentation from a major IT company - regarding a relatively sedate new offering - I saw some of the worst examples of marketing-speak that have ever darkened my inbox.
Tonight, I attended a Google briefing on its hastily-launched web browser, Chrome – which is now available for download here.
At first glance, the browser looked extremely impressive. In fact, it’s the only browser I’ve seen that could seriously tempt me away from my snug-fitting default browser, Firefox. However, I must stress that I was only privy to a Google demonstration of the browser before tonight’s 8pm launch, and haven’t actually played with it hands-on myself. For that, you’ll have to wait for PC Pro’s full preview tomorrow.
Here, however, are my early thoughts on what I saw:
Google’s shock entry into the browser market might be bad news for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, but it could be terminal for Mozilla and Firefox.
Google is Mozilla’s sugar daddy. In 2006 (the latest figures we have available), a staggering 85% of Mozilla Corp’s revenue came from the homepage and search deal it has with Google. Firefox is almost entirely dependent on the company that’s just launched what could easily become its biggest rival.
The constantly-evolving nature of technology is, for me, a source of endless fascination — and frequent amusement when it catches us off guard.
Just last night, our own Dear Leader was on the radio talking about Microsoft’s latest salvo in the browser wars. This morning, the battlefield has changed completely, thanks to the surprise arrival of Google Chrome.
To be precise, Chrome isn’t here quite yet: the beta is due out later today. For now, I’ve had to content myself with reading the product notes, which Google has oddly elected to release in cartoon form. Cute, but hardly practical.
Still, it looks like a lot of good ideas have gone into Chrome, and there’s one idea that excites me in particular:
As I say, we’re still waiting for the beta, so we don’t yet know how this works in practice. But running each tab, and each extension, as an independent process should, in theory, enable Chrome to make very effective use of multiple CPU cores.
Thus, not only is Google set to shake up the browser wars; it could actually make “cloud” computing as stable, efficient and responsive as local software – or more so in many scenarios. That would set the scene for a revolution in our very model of personal computing.
Of course, for now this is all just speculation. But even without seeing the software, I can confidently say this much: Google hasn’t lost its knack for disrupting the market.
I had the pleasure of popping into PC World on Saturday and, once there, I was handed a leaflet detailing some of the store’s current special offers. I didn’t think anything of it - I even shoved it in my pocket as I went to buy some BD-R discs - but I was in for a surprise when I had a look at the brochure after a couple of minutes.
That’s because it wasn’t actually a leaflet at all. The hapless employee had handed me an internal memo that described the ‘Weekend Top Deals’, how they’d been promoted in a variety of national media, how they’re being advertised in-store and, most intriguingly, the reasons why the chain of shops - one of the UK’s biggest, actually - is putting its marketing money behind these particular products.
Take the Sharp 46X20E 46″ digital LCD TV, for instance. Wander into the store and you may be led to believe that it’s a superb product and that it’ll provide many hours of viewing pleasure for your family.
A closer look, though, reveals that there must be a surplus in a very large warehouse somewhere. “This stock must go!” demands the brochure, following on to specify that the salespeople must “sell through all boxed stock, and your display model.” I just hope that they tell the unlucky bloke who’s bought an ex-display TV that it’s been prodded and poked by dozens of prospective buyers and offer him a suitable discount.
Even more revealing is the tale of the HP TouchSmart IQ500 - a product that’s currently sitting in the Labs and is making quite an impression at PC Pro thanks to an intuitive touchscreen interface and some stylish design. Is that why it’s on sale for such a good price?
Not entirely, according to the leaflet. It’s available for a price that, apparently, “makes great margin!”, ensuring a healthy profit on every unit sold. I’m sure that every store emphasises its most profitable products, but it’s not often that we’re given evidence of such blatant profiteering, even if it is by accident.
The worst thing, though? It’s the fact that this particular national chain spells ‘back to school’ as ‘bak2skl’. Oh dear.
When Intel declared, a year or so back, that the next big thing in technology would be mobile internet devices – or “MIDs”, as they’ve inevitably become known – I wasn’t having any of it.
I mean, I already have a phone for on-the-go communications and web browsing. And I already have a laptop for running “proper” applications. I simply didn’t see what I could do with a MID that I couldn’t already do – better – with my existing devices.
And it seemed Intel didn’t really know either. The MID homepage they put up was packed with buzzwords but distinctly light on killer reasons for choosing a MID over an existing device. MIDs didn’t look like an imminent revolution, more like a marketing concept that accidentally got made. They certainly didn’t look ready to go up against the likes of the iPhone and the Eee PC. Read the rest of this entry »
Well, we’re into day three and a half of the Chrome experience. And as the initial excitement dies down, we’re starting to notice a few niggles – plus some nice little features that aren’t immediately obvious.
The constantly-evolving nature of technology is, for me, a source of endless fascination — and frequent amusement when it catches us off guard.
I admit, I was among the first to scoff.