The announcement that Google’s Chrome Operating System will be offered free, raises questions about how the service will be subsidised.
Yesterday’s announcement that Google will launch a new Operating System called Chrome on netbooks in 2010, has caused much debate as it blatantly challenges Microsoft by threatening Microsoft Windows dominance of the market. Regardless of whether the forthcoming service can effectively revolutionise how computers operate, the issue end-users need to consider is how core Chrome is to Google’s business model, and therefore how it will be secured, supported and developed if it’s going to be free.
The answer is simple, according to Richard Gilder, chief executive officer at London cloud computing specialist Intercept – advertising and lots of it! "Collectively the technology industry and end-users need to be cautious, especially if the service puts more emphasis on Web functionality. Microsoft has provided this service well for many years and in doing so, developed a sound and sustainable business model. To all of a sudden face competition from a free service, sounds almost too good to be true," says Richard.
"The reality is that Google will subsidise this service through its mountain of advertising revenue. This means that desktops will become giant advertising engines, tracking and monitoring users’ activity. This is the underlining cost that users will pay for a free service."
"This is compounded when something goes wrong. Even Google is not immune from failures as was demonstrated earlier this year when Google applications and services were temporarily wiped from the Internet causing havoc for their many dependent users. Typically, this break in service didn’t last long, but without a sound service level agreement (SLA) it shows the pitfalls of being dependent on one solitary provider."
"It is worth noting that Google is often blasted for its support - have you ever tried calling them for help? There are no contact details on their website, and they just don’t really know how to support their customers on whichever product or service they sell, or in many cases now give away. The question has to be asked – is Google really a business software firm, or more an advertiser that gives away software for free?" |