As Beniger assesses in Communication and Cyberspace, "For those who seek to advertise, politic, persuade, or otherwise control large populations, cyberspace presents two attractive features: First, because cyberspace has the feel (and currently the tradition) of interpersonal communication, it would well serve to conceal the inherently impersonal (and thus less persuasive) aspects of mass communication. Second, because almost all of its communication is inherently accessible, retrievable, and machine readable by virtually anyone, cyberspace would itself foster unprecedented mass processing to support centralized control."
The second point about communication (and technology) being "inherently accessible, retrievable, and machine readable" is what struck a parallel for me with Chrome. Chrome enables users to access their content from any computer with web access just as if they were home on their computer. In many ways we already have these abilities with the plethora of Google apps that are already circulating, and Gmail is evolving to be (and already is for those who acknowledge the vast capabilities) much more than an email client. Chrome monopolizes on the simple idea of communication and digital interaction and creates their own "cyberspace." You now have a completely wireless, fully accessible operating system.
Google is marketing Chrome to be used on NetBooks and that it has all of the capabilities of a normal operating system with the usage of Google Docs for word processing, Gchat for your AIM needs, Hulu for your television, Google Calendar, and many more. Does the Chrome OS entice you? Do you feel comfortable with having all of your information and important documents stored solely on Google's servers?
Good description of Google Chrome, but how does it relate to Beniger's chapter? You throw the quote in, but his point is about the use of the internet for persuasion, marketing, and pseudocommunication. You raise the important question at the end, what does it mean to have all of your information stored on Google's computers? I'd like to see you discuss that point a bit more.
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