Ask HN: Is the future of software in the browser?
As more and more apps are being delivered via the web, do you think this trend will continue or is it going to plateau soon?
They just want more people using their cloud/spending more time on the web (i.e. seeing google ads, using search etc), doing things users can easily can be doing offline on their device.
These motivations obviously have nothing to do with the utility of a network/web to normal users. It just so happens that Google has temporarily succeeded in having their way. And that their interests align with Facebook, Netflix, Big Telco etc
It really makes no sense (from a users perspective) when you see the gigabytes of cheap storage and fast compute available on devices these days. How long they can keep it up depends on how long they keep Chrome teams funded at their present levels, and what kind of backlash builds up against all the dark patterns/addiction/polarization/privacy issues on the web.
From Google's perspective its easy to ramp down Chrome and ramp up Android if required. So I would keep an eye on both those teams. Is Google treating them as equals (in terms of hiring/publicity/investment etc)? If it changes tomorrow for any number of predictable and unpredictable reasons you will know which way the wind is blowing.