Posted on 11/08/2010 6:31:24 AM PST by Red Badger
The Web has changed a lot since Marc Andreessen revolutionized the Internet with the introduction of his Netscape browser in the mid-1990s. That's why he's betting people are ready to try a different Web-surfing technique on a new browser called RockMelt.
The browser, available for the first time Monday, is built on the premise that most online activity today revolves around socializing on Facebook, searching on Google, tweeting on Twitter and monitoring a handful of favorite websites. It tries to minimize the need to roam from one website to the next by corralling all vital information and favorite services in panes and drop-down windows.
"This is a chance for us to build a browser all over again," Andreessen said. "These are all things we would have done (at Netscape) if we had known how people were going to use the Web."
Andreessen didn't develop the RockMelt browser the way he did Netscape, whose early popularity waned as Microsoft Corp. bundled its Internet Explorer browser with the Windows operating system.
RockMelt is the handiwork of Tim Howes and Eric Vishria, who formerly worked with Andreessen. But Andreessen's seal of approval has been stamped on startup.
The biggest chunk of RockMelt's $10 million in funding has come from the venture capital firm that Andreessen runs with his partner, Ben Horowitz.
Andreessen also sits on RockMelt's board of directors, and his advice has been called upon frequently.
"When you are trying to reinvent the Web browser, who would you rather run your ideas by besides Marc?" said Howes, RockMelt's chief technology officer (Vishria is CEO).
Facebook's imprint also is all over RockMelt, although the two companies' only business connection so far is Andreessen. He also serves on Facebook's board of directors.
RockMelt only works if you have a Facebook account.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.myway.com ...
I sometimes wonder if we aren’t rapidly evolving toward the society living on that spaceship in the movie Wall-E - a bunch of people who’ve grown so lazy that everything that requires any physical effort is done for them by machines.
Uhh--do you not see the connection between those two?
Looks like a Chrome Browser with special tabs and side links. I know a couple of coders who could replicate the thing in a few hours. For beer money.
Maybe there is more to the final product but from what I have seen the goal is to get eyeballs on the thing. Which, of course, means that it is worth something financially at some point because lots of people are looking at it. That makes no sense but what the heck....
Thanks for the ping.
Oh well.
"The other is bottled water"
Drink crystal clear spring water from our spring up here.
I pity anyone who has to drink chlorinated, flouridated municipal "water".
It's possible to opt out of modern "progress".
If I were young starting out, I would be right where I am right now,
or working hard to get here.
Indeed. I believe their mantra is, "there's a plugin for that!"
How’s this for a marketing slogan:
“You have too much freedom, back into the Prodigy sandbox* for you!”
* Prodigy sandbox upgraded to Facebook sandbox is some locales.
It’s like the Jitterbug cell phone of web browsers!
Firefox now offers the F1 addon. Its cool. When you view a webpage after you hit the speakbox icon, select the social network and friends you want to send the webpage to. It makes sharing web content a snap!
facebook is evil
/.02
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