Cullmann Design Blog

I write about Google quite a bit. They tend to make some very big waves in the industry and effect not only the anthropological group that I belong to, but the public as a whole. The announcement of the Google Chrome Web Store is no exception. The new store, designed to support a pending roll-out of the new Google Chrome OS, makes a lot of sense. The operating system, based entirely on connection to the internet for utility, will need it’s equivalent to the AppStore. In its current form I wasn’t sure on whether it was without use or without a home.

At first, the store seems a bit out of place. Why would anyone want to “install” a bookmark? Or root themselves to one location for their webapps? Sync.

Google’s Chrome browser supports a synchronization feature that, when logged into from any computer, duplicates your browser’s apps and all of the accounts and web applications that you are using. And, with a web-based application, all of your settings and files are identical as well. The real offering is a move towards a “thin-client” that has Google at the hub of your online experience. A move away from the desktop OS, away from platforms and away from boxed software packages.

For the enterprise, this model offers a flexibility that is completely unprecedented. Imagine a sales force that was without reliance on IT support. Or a work-force that could operate virus-free and with continuous and real-time software updates. Templates, pricing schedules, policies could all be updated immediately with no latency or mistaken files.

A brilliant idea. And, like the iPad, Google is starting with the consumer market as both a testing ground and a path to gain confidence with users.