On Trojan Horses
I remember when Google Chrome Frame was released. Everybody screamed trojan horse and claimed Google to be smart. The Chrome Frame is a plugin for Internet Explorer that actually is smart. Maybe you don’t know but there are companies where employes don’t get to choose which browser to use, because that’s up to their IT department. That’s why, sometimes, you see some Internet Explorer 7 in your logs: because somebody in an office is forced to use it (or I can’t think of any other reason). Google Chrome Frame injects Google Chrome capabilities in Internet Explorer, so the poor guy at the office will still use Internet Explorer 7 but it will behave as if it were Google Chrome. Smart move Google, smart move. Your horse is now within the borders of Troy. Google wins, final users win, Microsoft looses. Now roles have been scrambled a bit and Google gets his payback. I am far from saying that Facebook is revenging Microsoft in return for what Google did to the Redmond company a few years ago. The fact is that a huge trojan horse is exactly within the borders of Google city, and it’s called Facebook home. Yes, Android is still Android, but Facebook Home is a “family of apps” that will hide most of what Google has built. Chances are that those who will buy a HTC First or any other phone sold with Facebook Home built in will use just that “family of apps”” and barely have a chance to use any other applications. Smart move Facebook, smart move. Sometimes that what happens when you are “open”.