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"However, apart from Android, where Google leverages the Power of Default, Chrome actually managed to compete on the merits." "Only on Android does Google leve

by fleddr 4y ago

"However, apart from Android, where Google leverages the Power of Default, Chrome actually managed to compete on the merits." "Only on Android does Google leverage its market power in another field to strengthen Chrome." Oh, only on Android, this tiny ecosystem of 2.5 billion(!) active users. No big deal. And they only leverage Android? It must have been my imagination how they've spammed Youtube, Gmail, Google Search, Google Maps for years to install Chrome. Or to even take it so far as to sabotage other web browsers on their services. Chrome also comes as part of some desktop software, there's a million ways in which they bundle it. The very idea in itself that browsers compete on merit is false. They are same enough for no normie user to care. They use whatever got installed as default, what they see their friends use, they barely have an idea what a browser even is.

jacooper 4y ago
Still, you have the choice to uninstall chrome and use Firefox which uses its own engine. On IOS you can't, its just a reskin. So chrome market dominance is not comparable to a bad browser existing because its just the only choice, that's more like IE.
- fleddr 4y ago
  You're right when framed within the context of the Apple ecosystem. I was merely making the point that Chrome's dominance is not based on merit (alone). It's a lie, and a very relevant one. If Apple were to open up browser competition on iOS, Google can/will use their enormous reach to destroy the "last man standing"...Safari. I'm not at all defending Apple, I'm merely pointing out that even if for selfish reasons, iOS Safari truly is the last browser in existence that acts as a counter force against Google doing whatever the hell they want regarding the web and web standards. It's a perverted dynamic, but a lack of competition has an upside here. The downside is that this reduced competition means the gap with native apps can't be closed. I consider that to be a massive stake too. Even within Google there's friction between the Android and Chrome teams regarding this matter. The incentives are really complex.

by fleddr 4y ago

jacooper 4y ago

Still, you have the choice to uninstall chrome and use Firefox which uses its own engine. On IOS you can't, its just a reskin. So chrome market dominance is not comparable to a bad browser existing because its just the only choice, that's more like IE.

fleddr 4y ago
You're right when framed within the context of the Apple ecosystem. I was merely making the point that Chrome's dominance is not based on merit (alone). It's a lie, and a very relevant one. If Apple were to open up browser competition on iOS, Google can/will use their enormous reach to destroy the "last man standing"...Safari. I'm not at all defending Apple, I'm merely pointing out that even if for selfish reasons, iOS Safari truly is the last browser in existence that acts as a counter force against Google doing whatever the hell they want regarding the web and web standards. It's a perverted dynamic, but a lack of competition has an upside here. The downside is that this reduced competition means the gap with native apps can't be closed. I consider that to be a massive stake too. Even within Google there's friction between the Android and Chrome teams regarding this matter. The incentives are really complex.