Sad news from the browser world as AOL has finally decided to stop development of Netscape.
Actually, it’s not sad at all given Netscape has become irrelevant in recent years as usage as declined and Firefox has replaced it as the alternative to IE. It’s only sad because Netscape ruled the browser market once upon a time before allowing Microsoft to steal its thunder and most of its users.
So what does AOL do with Netscape now it has officially decided to walk away? How about selling the assets to Facebook, which should seriously think about launching the FBrowser in 2008? Netscape’s technology ain’t much to write home about given AOL has been ignoring it for far too long but it still has plenty of users.
Then again, if I were Facebook, I’d probably be more interested in buying Flock – aka the social browser.
2 Comments
Interesting possibility Mark…
I think you’re right though. Flock may be a better candidate for Facebook. As for Netscape, I have no idea…
The big question for me is whether or not Google will enter the browser space, either via an acquisition or in-house development.
Cheers,
Aidan
http://www.MappingTheWeb.com
I think it makes total sense for Google to enter the browser market, if only as a way to promote use of Google services. In the meantime, Firefox seems to be doing a good job of being Google’s browser proxy. And Firefox is making some serious coin from the relationship.