Chrome doom: Google's Web-based OS could kill...

[Karl]

Chrome doom: Google's Web-based OS could kill whole industries

Alex Salkever
Nov 19th 2009 at 4:30PM

Google (GOOG) likes to blow up entire industries. Two weeks ago, the search giant dropped a bomb on the GPS industry with the release of its free and open-source voice-activated navigation app -- sorry, Garmin (GRMN) and TomTom. Google is also in the process of blowing up the productivity applications business with its Google Apps offering, a suite of online email, word processing and other tools that costs a fraction of the price of Windows Office and other Microsoft (MSFT) software.

Today, Google's new Chrome browser-based OS came into clearer focus, and from the looks of it, Google may be en route to blowing up a handful of other businesses.

This will likely be a slow-motion explosion, if it happens. Chrome is a year away from retail shelves, and who knows what could happen in that time. But if Chrome gets traction, there's a long list of companies that Google could essentially destroy. Here's an abbreviated list that could be in for big trouble if Chrome goes platinum:

Symantec, McAfee (SYMC, MFE): Antivirus and PC security companies provide software that detects intruders and prevents users from downloading viruses or getting hacked. Chrome will essentially eliminate downloaded software by keeping all software running in the confines of a browser window and over the Internet. Thus, Chrome will obviate the need to prevent people from downloading bad software or allowing evil hackers to control their machine.

Digital River (DRIV): This is the biggest e-commerce outsourcing company, with a clientele largely comprising software publishers. Symantec is among its leading customers. (Can you see a pattern developing here?) If customers have no need to download antivirus software, Digital River ceases to have a reason to exist. Some of its business is more nuanced and sophisticated, including inventory management, tax strategy and localization. This company has been a hedge fund darling based on the assumption that software downloads will continue to be normal routine. Some of those hedge funds may be bummed about their choice to buy DRIV right about now.

Best Buy (BBY): The dirty little secret of Best Buy is that it makes no money selling the actual computer hardware. All its revenue in that sector comes from selling support warranties and attached items -- which means, primarily, boxed software and accessories. Without warranty revenue, Best Buy takes a major hit. A significant percentage of PC, laptop and netbook customer-support calls and problems are related to bad software or too much software. If you eliminate software downloads from the equation -- as Chrome aims to do -- then you make warranties far less useful and compelling.

Likewise, if you can't download software to a Chrome machine, you certainly can't install it on one via DVD. Goodbye, boxed software sales. Granted, Best Buy sells lots of other things. But take away the profits from its PC segment, which garners a lot of warranties and attached items sales, and it might not be a pretty picture.

Alex Salkever is Senior Writer at AOL Daily Finance covering technology and greentech. Follow him on twitter @alexsalkever, read his articles, or email him at alex@dailyfinance.


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[Islandman]

A lot of exaggeration in this article. The idea that Chrome will affect Best Buy in any significant way is ridiculous.

The anti-virus companies are already under pressure from the free alternatives already available. But again, to suggest that Chrome will eliminate software downloads is just silly.

[Mosiah]

i would wait before i make such a statement. with this computer stuff, who knows how we'll be posting 5 years from now! nuh true, jawge?

[Islandman]

Some of us are visionaries, others are followers!

On a serious note, that is generally true. its not so much that i don't think Chrome or any other new development won't change anything, its more that I don't think it can be predicted with any degree of accuracy so singling out Best Buy for example, just doesn't seem very logical to me.

And while I know Jawge will probably make a big "Info Age" post on this, it is worth noting that technology change has always been difficult to predict. I was doing some research on the invention of the telephone recently and came upon an article where the Telegraph Company, Western Unions predecessor, was offered the patent for purchase from Alexader Graham Bell , so they set up a committee to investigate. Here was part of the comitteees report....

"Technically, we do not see that this device will be ever capable of sending recognizable speech over a distance of several miles.

"Messer Hubbard and Bell want to install one of their "telephone devices" in every city. The idea is idiotic on the face of it. Furthermore, why would any person want to use this ungainly and impractical device when he can send a messenger to the telegraph office and have a clear written message sent to any large city in the United States?

" Mr. G.G. Hubbard's fanciful predictions, while they sound rosy, are based on wild-eyed imagination and lack of understanding of the technical and economic facts of the situation, and a posture of ignoring the obvious limitations of his device, which is hardly more than a toy... .

"In view of these facts, we feel that Mr. G.G. Hubbard's request for $100,000 of the sale of this patent is utterly unreasonable, since this device is inherently of no use to us. We do not recommend its purchase."

[Mosiah]

imagine the number of stories like this!

nice post!

[Bricktop]

Some of us are visionaries, others are followers!

Well nuh dat dem a do, being a visionary?

[Jawge]

Well about six years ago Microsoft was thinking about having MS office on line. I don't think it will replace Microsoft (as they are too entrenched with several lines of defence and bestbuy sits behind this) What they may do is have the OS so it can run microsft apps.

It's here already though: look at your blue ray, you can now stream netflix,blockbuster and youtube from your blueray. You are really a online client on these corps servers. Now google could make it more fancy by making the bluray accessible to chrome and say attach your keyboard and mouse to the usb of your bluray (which is where I think they are going).

The only drawback is that opensource seems stuck in the academic and techie realm. Why? Because most managers (senior level) aren't that technically deep and (even if they are), they don't want to risk their jobs by banking on opensource. The CEOs already know microsoft. Look at Google,s chrome: what if a corp decides to go with it? They would have to train the whole staff in using the OS plus the apps. When the bugs (which I know there are) start popping up and the complaints start to fly, that director is gone. Name of the Game boss. To unseat microsoft; they would have to be popular on the networks like twitter, myspace et al then move in for the kill. Maybe this is the "rise of opensource" who knows. Hey I know opensource is out there in the corps but not like Microsoft.

If they load chrome on blurays or should I say make the blurays accessible to chrome (which would be fun for me . Can't wait to down load that upgrade.

[Islandman]

Yes the days of CD and DVD media are numbered. Netflix has said they want to have the majority of thier income coming from streaming content instead of shipped DVDs within a few years. Makes sense, shipping must be a major cost for them.

I am not convinced that everything should run from the cloud though, maybe one day but not now. You nuh did hear what happen to SideKick users recently? For a while it was thought that all thier data was lost in a system failure, but they managed to get most of it back. We will get there eventually but we not there yet.

[Mosiah]

Mac is the way to go!

[Willi]

Tru dat.

Once you go Mac, you never go back!

[Assasin]

If you can afford it. Mac parts, software and repairs a the most expensive you can get. plus no coverage for stuff like spillage on laptops.

[Mosiah]

perhaps, but you never have to worry about viruses and the like. how much is the anti-virus industry worth again?

the extra money you spend for the the Mac more than makes up for that stress!

[Assasin]

you don't have to pay for anti virus. Mcafee and Norton are overated.

[Willi]

PCs crash too easily!

[Assasin]

that is true but Mac has its share of problem too. I had to support both and while I give some credit to the Mac I have had problems with them.

Getting some software to work on them
Mac bleed companies for support and warranty(Too much for two little_)
There server don't isn't great and robost as Windows/Unix or Novell.
Mac parts are hard to get and expensive

I will give you the virus and a few other things.

I remember putting together a quote for 5 Mac and it run me about 60 grand. I could have gotten 15 PC that did the same thing with 3 years warranty that I didn't have to ship back to the company but have support come out and fix.