[ad#google]First, read Why Google Should Not Give Chrome the Go-Ahead from SitePoint.
Frankly, I think SitePoint misses the whole point of Native Client and Go here. Just look at Chrome OS, it’s pretty clear Google is thinking 25 years ahead, not 5. That’s just everyone, and in particular SitePoint’s Craig Buckler’s problem in perceiving what Google is planning.
It’s not about plugins. Google is making this native to Chrome. Remember Chrome’s future brother is Chrome OS, yes, an operating system. NaCl and Go are just a means for Google to enable easy development for their platform. It doesn’t have anything to do with browser wars, it’s operating system war. It’s also pretty far in the future. Google is setting the floor for the future of cloud computing, where all you need is a client.
Today’s technology limitations aren’t part of this equation. “Complex applications [that could benefit from NaCl] can be hundreds of megabytes in size” as Craig says, making the whole point of NaCl a bit moot today. But take a look at 5-years-ahead Japan that’s getting LTE on their cell phones in the following months and you might change your train of thought. LTE can push 300 mbps of downlink over the air; that’s 100 megabytes in 2.6 seconds. The aforementioned complex applications then become an accessible reality on the web.
Simply said, Google is thinking way ahead right now and anyone who realizes this also realizes companies like Microsoft, despite recent evolutions like IE 9′s GPU acceleration, are a bit far behind. I don’t think any of this has to do with web standards really. Open source aficionados that don’t want a new web standard to be operated by Google tend to forget this is all business and that in light of Google Chrome OS becoming more popular, they don’t really have a choice, much like today’s Gaming Businesses don’t have a choice when choosing which PC platform to develop for.
Point made, Google is being misunderstood these days, but is in my opinion doing exactly what it needs to do to put up a serious threat to Microsoft in the future. Apple is in my opinion not very significant but still less likely to get hurt in the process because their target business is generally very different from Microsoft and Google’s, despite appearances.
