The Company Behind Arc Is Now Building a Second, Much Simpler Browser (theverge.com)
- Reference: 0175324725
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/25/211220/the-company-behind-arc-is-now-building-a-second-much-simpler-browser
- Source link: https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/24/24279020/browser-company-ai-browser-arc
> Arc is not dying, [says CEO Josh Miller]. He says that over and over, in fact, even after I tell him [3]the YouTube video the company just released sounds like the thing companies say right before they kill a product. It's just that Arc won't change much anymore. It'll get stability updates and bug fixes, and there's a team at The Browser Company dedicated to those. "In that sense," Miller says, "it feels like a complete-ish product." Most of the team's energy and time will now be dedicated to starting from scratch. "Arc was basically this front-end, tab management innovation," Miller says. "People loved it. It grew like a weed. Then it started getting slow and started crashing a lot, and we felt bad, and we had to learn how to make it fast. And we kind of lost sight, in some ways, of the fact that we've got to do the operating system part."
>
> The plan this time is to build not just a different interface for a browser, but a different kind of browser entirely -- one that is much more proactive, more powerful, more AI-centric, more in line with that original vision. Call it the iPhone of web browsers, or the "internet computer," or whatever other metaphor you like. The idea is to turn the browser into an app platform. Miller still wants to do it, and he wants to do it for everyone. What does that look like? Miller is a bit vague on the details. The new browser, which Miller intimates could launch as soon as the beginning of next year, is designed to come with no switching costs, which means among other things that it will have horizontal tabs and fewer ideas about organization. The idea is to "make the first 90 seconds effortless" in order to get more people to switch. And then, slowly, to reveal what this new browser can do.
[1] https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/24/24279020/browser-company-ai-browser-arc
[2] https://slashdot.org/story/22/11/19/0639244/the-arc-browser-is-the-chrome-replacement-ive-been-waiting-for
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9yZ0JusME4
a different kind of browser entirely (Score:2)
> a different kind of browser entirely -- one that is much ...
=> more proactive - Huh?
=> more powerful - Okay.
=> more AI-centric - Hell no.
=> Call it the iPhone of web browsers - Nope.
=> or the "internet computer," - Nope.
=> The idea is to turn the browser into an app platform. - Seriously, no.
Re: (Score:3)
"Proactive" can only mean that the browser guides the user to the sites that have paid money for clicks. I can't interpret that word in this context in any other way.
Re: a different kind of browser entirely (Score:2)
Browsers are already app platforms. [1]https://xkcd.com/1367/ [xkcd.com]
[1] https://xkcd.com/1367/
Uh-oh CEO speak ahead (Score:2)
> Arc CEO Josh Miller, The plan this time is to build not just a different interface for a browser, but a different kind of browser entirely
Ok, sounds good
> more proactive, more powerful
Yes!!...
> more AI-centric
Ye...wait, what?
> Call it the iPhone of web browsers
Oh...good lord.
> the idea is to turn the browser into an app
hahahaha, pack it up, it's time to go home.
Seems a little snobby. (Score:2)
From the Arc [1]FAQ [arc.net] page:
> Q: What makes Arc different from other browsers?
> A: In other words, Arc is to your ex-browser what the iPhone was to cellphones. Or as one of our members said “like moving from a PC to a Mac.” It’s from the future — and just feels great.
Hey, I *like* my Pixel 5a and PCs -- especially the one running Linux Mint 22 Cinnamon -- and the Windows 10 system is fine for what I use it for and they're certainly a LOT less expensive than a Mac, or iPhone.
[1] https://arc.net/faq
Expensive way of learning GIGO (Score:2)
I could not stand using Arc for more than 2 minutes. It is complete garbage, and the CEO is finally confessing as much.
In the end, he describes effectively a Chromebook, and it's not as if those are selling at any rate that could be called enviable or desirable.
There are A LOT of good ideas out there, and, increasingly, it's innovative media like 404 Media that find them, not the "traditional" media like the Verge, which is owned by Vox, a veritable behemoth.
so i watched the video and ... (Score:2)
... this guy says he has no clue how to even describe his new product yet but is thrilled about 3 ideas:
1. using the internet should feel like riding a waymo
2. cmd-T for chatbot (i guess that's ctrl-L in windows?)
3. browsing feels automatic and anticipates your needs
thx for the info? so since 1 and 3 are vapor i'll go with 2, which is a functionality you could easily get on any browser either out of the box, via settings or worst case via something like auto-hotkey. if you even wanted that. yay, billion dol
Coming soon: CALLY-OO - the simplest web browser (Score:2)
You don't need a computer. You don't need a tablet. You don't even need a smartphone! Our CALLY-OO browser works even with a feature phone or an old-fashioned landline. No typing! No clicking!
It's so simple! There are no ads! How does it work, you wonder? Okay, but be warned, once I tell you - you're gonna smack your head wondering why you couldn't come up with this million-dollar idea yourself!
1) Dial 1-900-CALLY-OO
2) Speaking slowly and clearly, state the name of the website you want to visit
3) Instantly
Re: (Score:1)
> ”..more powerful, more AI-centric..”
Your parody may not be as far off, based on whatever the hell that means.
different (Score:2)
> "The plan this time is to build not just a different interface for a browser, but a different kind of browser entirely"
Arc is nothing but yet another UI on top of Google-controlled Chromium.
If the plan is to actually design a third open source browser (Firefox, Chrom*, and something new) I think that is a fantastic idea. We need MORE actual choices, not a single good browser that is not under Google's control (Firefox) and many dozens of Chom*.
Yet another proprietary Blink/Chromium skin. (Score:2)
No thanks.
check out Ladybird.
Re: (Score:2)
> "check out Ladybird."
"An alpha release is planned in 2026"
So maybe check it out in a few YEARS...
Re: (Score:1)
>> "check out Ladybird."
> "An alpha release is planned in 2026"
> So maybe check it out in a few YEARS...
If the challenge was a development cycle that makes Google apps more stable than a hovercraft ride at a weight watchers convention, fucking nailed it.
When Marketing, isn’t. (Score:1)
> ..and there's a team at The Browser Company dedicated to..
Why do I get a weird feeling that a certain product could be fantastically fucking amazing right now, but a certain marketing department wouldn’t be able to uniquely market it worth a shit due to an utter lack of creativity..
Bring back Firefox 1.0 (Score:2)
Now that was a minimalist browser, and if you wanted more you had powerful XUL extensions. Modern Firefox is up to three sponsored tiles in the home screen now.
Re: (Score:3)
> "Modern Firefox is up to three sponsored tiles in the home screen now."
I guess, if you leave it in the default configuration. Does anyone actually do that?
user_pref("browser.startup.homepage", "about:blank");