Google is, actually, one of my top three disliked companies. The other two are Microsoft and Adobe. Why I dislike Microsoft and Adobe is a post for another day, but today I would like to talk about Google. Believe it or not, I will explain this without ONCE saying any personal bad experiences with Google’s services.
Google has recently unveiled at a developer preview their new product “Google Wave”. If you have not yet read about this, or watched the introduction video available on their webpage, I suggest you click here to go there now, and watch it.
If you have heard of it, and if you’ve watched the demo, you will be amazed. Not only have Google come up with a killer product, they’re going to open-source it, and developers will have access to the most amazing resources to produce the most amazing web applications possible. If you’re still reading and you haven’t watched the video, please go watch the video first.
Right – so the question is, why, especially if it’s open-sourced, are you against Google?
Try to look at it from this perspective. At this moment, we have three main operating systems, Linux, Mac and Windows, each with desktop applications built to cater for the underlying system. You might prefer one more than the other, and thus the more popular ones get more applications built, developers move to develop on the platform, and when the developers move, most users don’t realise this, but it’s where the developers like to go that determines what will progress and ultimately be used by you regular folks.
Right. So it’s a bit stupid to have a lot of competing technologies, and it’s obviously better to have one uniform system that just works ™ for all. That’s why we start to depreciate older technologies, merge together technologies, define standards, etc to make desktop systems more integrated, etc. This is well seen in stuff like KDE, GNOME, etc.
However, Google’s seen something a lot of others have been blinded about. The web is the only cross-platform, standardised system that exists. So whilst Microsoft, Linux and Apple go and fight their differences, Google, armed with its existing monopoly in the search engine system (yeah, indexes the internet, nice one) decides to take over the internet.
Here’s where you roll your eyes. But I’m not joking. Allow me to explain.
Since nobody can actually own the internet, Google has managed to think up another way of doing it. The plan starts with creating a lot of “uncanny” web applications. The uncanny valley was a concept used to describe the point at which one’s appreciation of technology due to its advancement changed to disgust because the technology became too “humanoid”. Eg: a humanoid robot only gets so awesome until it starts look identical to you, and better too, and with a hidden flamethrower. When used in the context of web apps, this is where the website’s interface mimics that of a desktop application. Like, for example: Google Docs.
This impresses a lot of users really quickly, as it allows them to do what was only previously possible if the software was installed on the system instead anywhere around the world with an internet connection and with a decent browser.
…and then Google starts releasing web APIs and toolkits to allow developers to take advantages of the systems it has created. This sounds really good, until you think about what else Google is doing.
Google releases their web browser, Google Chrome. Google Chrome is a breakthrough in certain technologies, allowing separate processes per tab, and support for some seriously cool javascript, ajax, whatever. Google’s aim in Chrome is “to show what the web is capable of”, pushing the limits, etc. With this browser, users can experience the best in uncanny websites, hence all functionality of your average desktop application can now, actually be done right in your browser. Again, Google Docs is a perfect example of this. Don’t believe me? Why don’t you try Photoshop in your browser, right now.
Once Google has a place in the browser market, they have every right to start sticking in their own ideas into the new HTML 5 standards. Now Google has their arsenal to define exactly what the browser is capable of. Together with their existing web toolkits and demos on the amazing stuff that is capable, who wouldn’t be happy to oblige?
Well, nobody. Google has made it so easy for the average person to access all of these great features. Even though Google Sites is a complete joke for web developers, for Joe down the street who can’t spell out HTML to save his life, Google Sites is amazing.
So people start switching. Because the technology behind it, too, is so impressive, developers start switching. In the end, what we now have is in effect “an operating system right in your browser“. Or as one person in IRC put it, another layer to depreciate the coding layers below it. Soon we will not need desktop applications any more, and everything will be done on the web. (of course there are also technical implications about this, like what will happen to the rest of the programming languages)
No, the web is still just through one browser you say, it’s not at all useful like that.
Actually, what about Chrome running as separate processes? What’s the difference between that and different applications? All that means is that instead of running KMail, your notetaking application, Pidgin, IRC client, OpenOffice and feed reader, now you’ll be running 6 or 7 Chrome separated tabs (so they’re just like individual applications) connected to GMail, Google Notepad, GTalk, Google Docs and Google Reader. In fact, you can have *deep breath*
GMail, Google Notepad, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Talk, Google Reader, Google Contacts, Google Desktop, Google Gears, Google Maps, Google Earth, Google Sites, Google Books, Google Translate, Google Scholar, Google Medical Records, Google Directory, Google Groups, iGoogle, Google Adsense, Google Streetview, Google Sync, Google Android, Google Youtube, Google Analytics, Google 23andme, Google Lively, Google Dictionary, Google Voice, Google Feedburner, Google Chrome, Google Chrome OS, Google Public DNS, Google Go, Google Shopping, Google Checkout, Google Apps, Google News, Google Video, Google Blogspot, Google Finance, Google Sketchup, Google Orkut, Google Trends, Google Code, Google Picasa … and now Google Wave.
Every single thing to replace every single desktop application you’ll ever need save for some development tools. I swear I could actually live a year with only using Google Products.
So once people try to compete with the huge massive framework Google has created for itself, the only way to create competitive products is to either rebuild your own framework (which is likely to be extremely time consuming and impractical) or …. Use Google Toolkit and Google API and Google Code.
So even though Google doesn’t own the web, Google has taken over the web. It doesn’t matter if it’s open-sourced, if you have to use Google Toolkit to make anything decent, that’s “Google is here to define what can be done” for you. The ultimate czar of the Internet.
Welcome to the future, where nobody knows what “desktop application” means.
Edited Dec 09 to add 8 more Google products to the list.
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This web takeover started long before Google.
First there was Java which was meant to deploy apps over the web to end user without forcing them to install every single app. Those apps should provide desktop experience in cost of waiting a minute while it loads from the web. And while it didn’t happen I’ve seen a few examples.
There’s Mozilla Runtime which is capable of running XUL apps right from the web. Mozilla platform has a power of desktop apps (native looking GUI elements and DE integration, network, and almost anything else any other dektop app can have), it’s crossplatfom and it mixes in the ease of the web programming.
There are many other examples of webapps that are built outside of Google and not less powerful. Zoho, Zimbra to name a few.
In regard of Wave I don’t see any problem at all. It’s open source. You can have your own servers. You can have your own clients. Even desktop clients. Even cli clients. If you think you have a great idea about changing the protocol itself you can try to convince everybody else that you’re better that Google in protocol design. I think people will follow you if you’re really are.
So to summarize: stop worrying and learn to love our dark future in the web.
Peace.
Well, whether we like it or not corporations are homogenizing and while i agree that competition breeds better products (ATi and nvdia e.g.) control of the product is what corporations are looking for. Most newspapers in america now are owned by a single entity. While this produces pretty looking products, controversies are often omitted. This in turn allows people who are not looking out for the public good and only for themselves to have greater influence. As I can see it, yes Google is a monopoly, and should be kept eye’d-on but their is still a choice and while Google may have the in-roads to web-apps, I don’t see them becoming the only application developers.
I am probably one of those who know nothing about desktop application AND love Google. One question:So what if Google is taking over the Internet?
Since no one else has ever thought of doing what Google is doing now,I think Google should be given a round of applause instead.After all,it’s not easy creating an empire like this,same goes to Microsoft.
The fact is,no average Joe or Jane is going to notice all that is going on here.They(me included)are going to take what everyone else is using even if it’s not-that-good.That’s herd mentality.
Don’t you think that Google has done a great job so far?Be it Google Earth or Google Docs?
(Google Docs is a very convenient tool for users,by the way.)
One of the reasons I had a rather harsh and accusing tone here was because I was quite upset to hear that Google Wave had practically stolen every single feature in a system I had designed earlier on and was implementing in PHP. It’s like you had thought of something great and were working on it until some big corp comes along and apparently came up with the exact same thing as you did, except with a huge amount more user interaction (because I don’t know how to code some of the things they managed to do). So obviously you’d feel pretty crap about it.
This post brings to users another perspective on the Google debacle – most other people will simply mutter something about security and privacy but what I wanted to explain here was the future and quite realistically what it may be like. You won’t find a lot of people that can look at what Google’s doing like this. This is not necessarily a bad thing – it’s been done before, and it’s for the better.
Put it this way, if you want a web czar, who’d you rather it be, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft…? I’d pick Google. No matter how shrewd their CEO is I know that they’d have to be kind to all – users and developers if they want to take up such a huge post, if not they’ll become just like Microsoft, and I’m sure they’re actually being kind, such as opening up the protocols, thus ensuring freedom in clients. I actually think it’s a brighter future out there – but just so long as Google doesn’t suddenly backstab us.
But hey, would you not want a web czar at all? Re-read my second analysis of the open source business model – we _should_ have a czar, one that defines standards, one that pushes ahead in development. I’d choose Google over the Linux Foundation any day in guiding the web – they certainly have more experience on it.
Hey, even if they stole my idea, I’m happy – that’s what open source is all about, choice. So I’m going to finish off my personal project, no matter how depreciated it’s going to get after Wave becomes de facto. I’m not stupid, I know what I’m doing, and I certainly don’t want to miss my share of the fun.
Re: development tools. That’s Mozilla’s bag, it seems like. With things like Jetpack and Bespin. We’ll see Google catch up soon
Yes it seems pretty likely that Mozilla is going to be another major player in this – I doubt very much IE can catch up though.
Oh, and for those that usually ignore trackbacks, I highly suggest you click the trackback The DF Lab >> Beware of Google? – it’s a good response and a good read.
Now I found the reason for you having a harsher tone on Google Wave, I think it actually benefits you.
Cheers!
In fact if you have used Google Docs, this Wave thingy is just an integration among the products they already have plus creating an open source protocol and to allow developers to build on top of it.
Concurrent chat and editing on the document already exists in Google Docs.
If your idea is similar to it, why not take the opportunity to get involved in creating extensions? Join the developer sandbox and leverage its upcoming fame for the product you’re building.
I bet it will benefit you too.
If there’s anyone who could take over the Internet, Google is the one, but so far they are doing things beneficial to the community and to the world. Doesn’t look that bad right?
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It is pretty scary to think of one corporation essentially owning all the data in the world (the implicit effect of them being the gatekeeper or czar). It’s also been interesting to see how the web (and also the general speedup of technology) has and continues to change the meaning of computer science so drastically year to year (compare 1970s systems programmer to 17 year old web programmer). Anyway, kudos on making some very good points (goes for the responders as well).
Thank you for your comment, and you are right about the difference between who we now see working on computers at which level. This I believe is a great example of mass amateurisation at work – a trend technology is extremely good at showing.
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