# Google has nothing better to do on a Saturday night than change Chrome around **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 30, 2011, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-has-nothing-better-to-do-on-a-saturday-night-than-change-chrome-around/601249 "2011-10-30T02:56:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-has-nothing-better-to-do-on-a-saturday-night-than-change-chrome-around/601249/21 "2011-10-30T17:30:54Z")
> [@BlackKnight](#): > > I can only assume you’ve never, ever criticized a television program airing on an over-the-air network. > > [Right?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12495290&postcount=406) I have cable. I pay for that shit! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-has-nothing-better-to-do-on-a-saturday-night-than-change-chrome-around/601249/22 "2011-10-30T17:35:49Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I have cable. I pay for that shit! 😃 And the OP pays for internet service. Damn, never thought I’d see **John Mace** argued into a corner. 😛 As to the OP, I hear ya. Invisible updating is good for security patches and bugfixes, not UI changes. That’s Google’s MO for all their products, though. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-has-nothing-better-to-do-on-a-saturday-night-than-change-chrome-around/601249/23 "2011-10-30T17:41:04Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > And the OP pays for internet service. Not the same thing. The cable companies pay for access to the networks, and they charge me appropriately. You ISP isn’t paying Google to allow you access Chome. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-has-nothing-better-to-do-on-a-saturday-night-than-change-chrome-around/601249/24 "2011-10-30T18:19:13Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Not the same thing. The cable companies pay for access to the networks, and they charge me appropriately. You ISP isn’t paying Google to allow you access Chome. Dangit. Okay, fine. But **Swords to Plowshares** ’ original point isn’t a bad one. End users may not have to pay anything to Google to use Chrome, but it’s still in their business plan’s best interest to have as many people using as many Google products as possible. In that sense, they should be nearly if not just as concerned about user satisfaction as a company who directly charges for their products. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-has-nothing-better-to-do-on-a-saturday-night-than-change-chrome-around/601249/25 "2011-10-30T19:23:30Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Not sure why they think I need to see pictures of the websites I have on the start-up page. There have always been pictures on that page as long as Chrome has existed. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-has-nothing-better-to-do-on-a-saturday-night-than-change-chrome-around/601249/26 "2011-10-30T19:35:49Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > There have always been pictures on that page as long as Chrome has existed. You used to have the option of turning them off. Can’t find that option now for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-has-nothing-better-to-do-on-a-saturday-night-than-change-chrome-around/601249/27 "2011-10-30T20:14:17Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Not the same thing. The cable companies pay for access to the networks, and they charge me appropriately. You ISP isn’t paying Google to allow you access Chome. So you do know the show you were complaining about was an ABC show to be broadcast OTA, which is free, correct? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-has-nothing-better-to-do-on-a-saturday-night-than-change-chrome-around/601249/28 "2011-10-30T23:36:04Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Dangit. Okay, fine. > > But **Swords to Plowshares** ’ original point isn’t a bad one. End users may not have to pay anything to Google to use Chrome, but it’s still in their business plan’s best interest to have as many people using as many Google products as possible. In that sense, they should be nearly if not just as concerned about user satisfaction as a company who directly charges for their products. And they probably \*are \*getting as many people using as many Google products as possible - notwithstanding the inevitable bellyaching from those who are all “OMG it doesn’t look exactly the same as it did before and I’ll have to spend five minutes familiarising myself with it and who has that kind of time to spare anyway?”. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-has-nothing-better-to-do-on-a-saturday-night-than-change-chrome-around/601249/29 "2011-11-01T21:26:09Z")
I too think the whole “it’s free, you get what you pay for” argument is tired, particularly when it relates to internet browswers because Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari are all free as well, so it’s not like the OP is using a free dumbed down version of a product and complaining that it’s limited but could fix it by forking over a few bucks for the full version. However, I also think the “OMG it changed! This is horrible.” is just as bad too. Hell, the OP checked it again and decided it wasn’t so bad in enough time to edit the post, so it’s obviously not that bad and mentions that he should be more upset about randomly rebooting the new laptop but isn’t because he’s used to it. IOW, a terrible “feature” that he’s used to is somehow more tollerable than a neutral feature he’s unused to. Personally, I noticed the change, but it took me all of about 5s to figure out how to address it and be happy with it, so I otherwise would have forgotten if not for this thread. However, that said, I do think Google ought to have some kind of notification for UI changes, even if it’s just on the into page with a quick blurb and a link to find out more, so people who are confused by it can figure out what to do about it. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-has-nothing-better-to-do-on-a-saturday-night-than-change-chrome-around/601249/30 "2011-11-02T09:25:35Z")
Is it just me or after the change anyone else got an ad in the new tab page for a Google product?, something about books, I think, I closed the thing in a blink out of habit. Nevertheless that was the proverbial straw in the camels back, i have been using Chrome in my netbook for some time (I use Firefox on my PC) but this morning I switched to Firefox on the netbook too. I had been procrastinating over the change so, thanks Google for giving me that last little incentive to move over. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-has-nothing-better-to-do-on-a-saturday-night-than-change-chrome-around/601249/31 "2011-11-03T14:33:32Z")
We have ALWAYS been at war with Internet Explorer. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-has-nothing-better-to-do-on-a-saturday-night-than-change-chrome-around/601249/32 "2011-11-03T14:38:21Z")
Why don’t you try to set it up on a date with Conservapedia? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-has-nothing-better-to-do-on-a-saturday-night-than-change-chrome-around/601249/33 "2011-11-03T17:15:16Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > We have ALWAYS been at war with Internet Explorer. With IE9, certainly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-has-nothing-better-to-do-on-a-saturday-night-than-change-chrome-around/601249.md?page=1)