Re: Google doing this might actually HELP Chrome dominate
The problem with the analogy is that Google used a number of avenues to promote Chrome that alternatives just don't have - avenues such as getting companies offering free downloads to bundle it with their software, advertising it on one of the most trafficked web pages in the world, etc. It also got a massive, lightning-in-a-bottle boost when other large sites pushed it hard due to the newly-appointed Mozilla CEO having donated to a PAC in favor of traditional marriage years before he took the helm.
As it stands, almost all the competitors have nothing but word-of-mouth to spread by - and most of those are still Chromium skins. The few exceptions are Firefox forks, but their userbase tends to be disgruntled Firefox users; converting Chrome users isn't typical. We might see this monoculture broken, but HTML5 has allowed it to embed itself much deeper than IE6 did.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
