Google Chrome is downloading a 4 GB Gemini Nano model onto users' machines without consent, with no opt-in, no opt-out short of enterprise tooling, and an automatic re-download every time the user deletes it. The pattern is identical to the Anthropic Claude Desktop case I wrote about last month, but the scale is between two and three orders of magnitude larger. This article does the legal analysis and, for the first time, the environmental analysis. The numbers are not small.
It was a philosophical question posed about a technical matter.
Okay, succinctness aside, I get that you’re trying to imply that the kind of person who still uses Chrome is basically asking to be mistreated (I think?) - but the author’s point about climate impact depends on user count, not user personality.
Got a notice just yesterday that my browser wasn’t supported on a site and I needed the latest version of chrome. Luckily chromium fooled it. So… Chrome is still the IE of the modern web.
Same here. Our IT guys have good taste in browsers, but they also know that some people in the company may still need one of the messy sites that are incompatible with web standards. Chrome is for those edge cases.
Who still uses Chrome?
68% of all browser traffic, with Safari at a close second with 17%
That is a technical response to a philosophical question.
It was a philosophical question posed about a technical matter.
Okay, succinctness aside, I get that you’re trying to imply that the kind of person who still uses Chrome is basically asking to be mistreated (I think?) - but the author’s point about climate impact depends on user count, not user personality.
Got a notice just yesterday that my browser wasn’t supported on a site and I needed the latest version of chrome. Luckily chromium fooled it. So… Chrome is still the IE of the modern web.
Companies.
And you, if you work for a company.
The corporate images for our company come with Firefox ESR, and you can file an automated request for Chrome if you want it added 🤷♂️
That’s dope. And rare. Good on them.
Same here. Our IT guys have good taste in browsers, but they also know that some people in the company may still need one of the messy sites that are incompatible with web standards. Chrome is for those edge cases.
I got the short end when i was in the office. Edge and chrome were it. And there was a white list. They even monitored when the TV was turned on.
Will intern 4 free 4 FF ESR
Most middle and high schoolers use chromebooks nowadays.