Something to write about: Google Chrome as music player?

Okay, so maybe I'm the only one who hasn't really noticed yet, but darn is the Google Chrome Webstore filled with awesomeness. Okay okay, I'm probably exaggerating, and the webstore is probably more like a blatant rip-off of Apple's Appstore, but still, it's pretty nifty to be able to play music on your browser while playing some mini games and researching the chords to the most recent Mandy Moore hit I See The Light (uhh, yeah, I think I may have enjoyed Tangle a little too much, hehe).

Like I won't be able to do this with my browser anyway. But meh.



See, I like the idea of apps being integrated into Google Chrome. I like the fact that I only need to open one application and have most of what I need right there and then. After all, isn't this what Google has been striving to do all along, with Google Docs and what not? It's interesting that now, they have even entered (read, crashed into) Apple territory by creating a platform by which small developers could create apps that could run on top of Google Chrome that provide some functionality that, arguably, has never before been seen integrated into a web browser.

Arguably.

While I like the idea, I find it weird that Google has chosen to integrate an app distribution environment into their flagship web browser. It is true that Google Chrome maybe the most used Google product outside of their search engine and email service, but the thing is, haven't we been running these same apps on our web browsers anyways?

For instance, let's take this nifty little lastFM music player I had installed into my Google Chrome. I'm sure internet radio has been out there for the longest time already, and something like lastFM's music recommendation feature has most certainly been a feature of at least one of those internet radio services, so why create an app for it? Sure, it saves you tab space, but at the back-end of it, it still occupies memory, so you're not gaining as much!

And let's not even talk about their game apps. We've been playing flash games on our browsers since time immemorial (or at least when Flash was first released as a web platform for interactivity), so why offer apps that emulate these games?

Now, let's make it clear, I don't hate this new service, not at all. In fact, I love it, as it gives me a new way of playing games and having access to services that's only a mouse click away (or two, since you have to open a new tab to see some of your apps in Chrome's already nifty start screen). It's just that, I find it really weird that they're integrating it with a browser of all things. I have a feeling this browser integrated Webstore is just a testbed to Google's Chrome OS, but that's just a hunch.

Anyway, back to listening to Aya Kamiki on my lastFM Music player app while searching for guitar chords to Mandy Moore's new hit I See The Light on my Guitar Chords app, then maybe later I'd play some Entanglement!