• Browse simple web pages on my TV
• Watch YouTube videos on my TV (such as TWIT)
• Stream music, videos, etc. from my Computer (Orb)
• Check my e-mail, Facebook, etc.
• Look at just about anything on the net

Do you know what the best thing about this is – it was free.  The addition on one piece of software fundamentally changes the nature of the box – from just a game machine to more of a computer.  There is no one telling me what I can and can’t do – the browser opens up a world of choice and power.  I wonder sometimes if the browser has become one of the most powerful applications on any modern device.  Can you imagine a world without it?

Or does the browser really show us the power of connections – of communication?  I remember when computers weren’t connected – when everything was local.  There’s so much more information and effectiveness to be found in the network – in connections.  This is formally referred to as the “Network Effect” – in that as more and more people are connected the value of those connections grows.  Years ago (when I was a teenager) there were BBS – Bulletin Board Systems – that allowed my lone PC to connect to a shared computer to download new software – which was cool at the time.  Then the early internet started (when I was in college) which I though was really neat – but the information shared was small and limited in terms of users.  Then the Internet went mainstream and continues to grow and change at an astounding rate – bring us new opportunities every day (how old is Facebook?).

Now today the Internet has a profound influence in our lives – as many of use spend a lot of time online doing many things.  We shop, we communicate, we learn – we live online in many ways now.  And that browser facilitates so much of that – one piece of software with so much potential…

Sometime last year I finally made the plunge and tried Firefox.  I was quite impressed with Firefox – especially with it’s support for more standards (like curved borders!!) and the extensions.  It’s just neat to be able to apply a theme to the browser so it looks cooler.

Recently I decided to try out Google Chrome as I had heard a lot about it too. I find myself really liking Google Chrome – as it seems to work very well.  While I haven’t measured it – it seems to use less resources than Firefox does – and it has some nice features.  I like how the the downloads work – with a bar at the bottom appearing to show the progress and the recent downloads.  The status bar only appears when it’s needed.   You can right-click on a page and it will give you a print option,  search Google on that word, etc.  What I also like about Chrome (or Firefox) is that they have built-in spell checking.

So I narrowly recommend Chrome over Firefox – more for it’s efficiency.  They are both better browsers than IE – offering better standards compliance (web pages work better) and great extensions.  If you are still using IE (Internet Explorer) I would encourage you to try out Firefox or Chrome:

• Firefox: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/ (open source from Mozilla Foundation)
• Google Chrome: http://www.google.com/chrome (open source – version built by Google)