The Google Chrome team shot a video in Times Square, NY asking people on the street what is a browser. You would think that people would know, being that the word “browser” is the less geeky of names in a world dominated by acronyms like RSS, CSS, or HTML. But only 8% of the people knew what it was. This is not surprising. Asking a question in such an ad hoc fashion is like going to a casino expecting to win immediately. The rest gave answers like, “Google”, “Facebook”, and the more sophisticated, a “search engine.” This is interesting, but not because people are ignorant about software, but how transparent software has become to users. Twenty years from now you’ll ask people what Operating System they use, and they’ll probably answer, “I use a Mac, or “I use a PC.” That’s almost happening right now.
What is a Browser?
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