Chrome: A New Way to Surf in the Home Office

By Jeff Zbar 
www.chiefhomeofficer.com

So I’ve downloaded Chrome, Google’s new Web browser. It’s in beta, meaning it’s out for public use but not as functional today as they expect it to be in the future.

Some features I’d like to see in short order, for example, would be the “Highlighter” tool, that highlights a searched term in a long document. And I was wondering — until a few moments ago — why when I went to download the Google Toolbar, the site didn’t list Chrome as a browser it supported.

Then it dawned on me: Chrome is a browser and a search engine. And that simplified functionality is part of the beauty of this new application.

Notwithstanding how Chrome will eventually weave in such Google apps as Documents, Calendar, Gmail and even iGoogle (all of which I’ve grown fond of using [I long ago conceded the fact that Google knows pretty much all there is to know about; all that's left is for them to pay my mortgage and raise my kids...]), in its most streamlined, basic presentation, it’s simply a Web browser and a search engine. So you don’t need to install a Search Bar on the tool bar. You just type your search term into the navigation bar. Sweet.

Don’t take my word for it. David Pogue with the New York Times had a pretty good review. So did TechCrunch. Heck, read Google’s Take (they have these fancy, kitschy booklets they use to simplify complex concepts, like how they’re going to blast Microsoft’s monopoly into the ether).

As a parent, sometime I bemoan the passage of time. It travels all too quickly, and the kids grow up all too fast (my oldest will be 17 in a month — and I still feel 30). But when it comes to tech like Chrome, I’m itchin’ to see it evolve. Patience, I tell myself. Just enjoy what they’ve provided so far and anticipate what’s next…

Since the '80s, Jeff Zbar has been a writer, speaker and spokesman on all facets of working from home and entrepreneurship. His columns and blogs have appeared via Entrepreneur, Success Magazine, Home Office Computing and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and he has been a small business expert on national television and radio. Learn more at www.chiefhomeofficer.com.