Google has announced that they are getting into the "browser" game via a product called Chrome. Make no mistake, this is the start of a Cloud-based Operating system that is all about protecting existing search traffic to Google as people change from desktop based OS's like Windows and start living in the cloud.
Google knows better than any company that when user behavior changes in one area (from desktop to internet in their case) that it presents an opportunity for fundamental shifts in revenue streams (search from Yellow pages). Chrome is one part of their strategy to navigate the next major shift in user behavior.
Here is a purely defensive innovation to protect existing revenue streams. Google understands that innovation is not always about growth, and is applying one of the lessons of the computer age -- if don't continue to innovate, you get left behind by the times. Isn't that right Control Data, Cray, and IBM? Success breeds a defensive business stance (see Microsoft, General Motors, and Ford). Being overly cautious has lead to disaster down the road in the past, and will continue to do so in the future.
Reinvention has always been risky. The problem is that with the pace of change in the world, not reinventing your business is even riskier. Welcome to the era of constant change.
Google knows better than any company that when user behavior changes in one area (from desktop to internet in their case) that it presents an opportunity for fundamental shifts in revenue streams (search from Yellow pages). Chrome is one part of their strategy to navigate the next major shift in user behavior.
Here is a purely defensive innovation to protect existing revenue streams. Google understands that innovation is not always about growth, and is applying one of the lessons of the computer age -- if don't continue to innovate, you get left behind by the times. Isn't that right Control Data, Cray, and IBM? Success breeds a defensive business stance (see Microsoft, General Motors, and Ford). Being overly cautious has lead to disaster down the road in the past, and will continue to do so in the future.
Reinvention has always been risky. The problem is that with the pace of change in the world, not reinventing your business is even riskier. Welcome to the era of constant change.
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