Chromed: Did Google Just Become TOO Big?

Blaise Zerega wonders if somebody just jumped a shark. With the launch of Chrome, Google is tossing away what little street cred it still has. So much for being scrappy and innovative and just plain cool. Particularly as Google's new move throws Firefox under the bus. Two comparisons come to mind.

The obvious comparison:  Google is behaving like the "old" Microsoft and using its size to muscle into new markets -- in this case, that of web browsers.
 
The damning comparison: Google is about to become a mega-corporation like GE -- consider Google's forays into such diverse markerts like energy, healthcare, and entertainment.

So much of what made Google matter was that there was something of the underdog about the company even as it marched towards its 2004 IPO.  Larry and Sergey presented an alternative to the hegemony of "big" tech companies -- Yahoo, Microsoft, Apple, and so on. Anyone remember Alta Vista?

Fast forward to the present where until recently you could think of Google as an anti-Microsoft, a Silicon Valley up-and-comer taking on Redmond. Not so anymore. Those days are long gone.

The introduction of Chrome proves it. Google has become the heavyweight. And if Firefox becomes a casualty to an Explorer-Chrome War, then Google will incur the wrath of Firefox fans everywhere.

So, perhaps it's time for  Google to consider changing it's "Don't be evil" motto. Whoever came up with "We bring good things to life" ought to give a call to the boys in Mountain View.