Google Lively Windows-Only: They Should Know Better

When Google announced the first release of its 3D virtual world technology Lively last week, they got the predictably huge press play anything from GoogleLand gets (and most often deserves). As it happens, I'm in the midst of a major project involving using such environments to create and conduct business, so I'm keeping a particularly keen eye on the market.

I will probably have more to say about the product itself when I have time to check it out. First, I have to install it on Windows. Yeah, that's right. Google, the folks who would be God of the Internet, still makes some products and technologies that don't work cross-browser or cross-platform. That's just stupid, bordering on unforgivable.

Is it easy to do great Web apps that run in all browsers on all OSes? Of course not. It should be, but it's not. But if anyone can and should be leading the way on that front, it's Google. That they couldn't be bothered to create this tool -- which is already such a Johnny=come-lately to the party that timeliness of delivery was clearly not an issue -- so it runs on Mac and Linux doesn't speak well for the company's understanding of the market.

There is simply no excuse for a Web-based product or tool that doesn't run across those boundaries. None. You could write the bulk of the app in NOLOH and accomplish it without a lot of sweat or thought or effort. It's just annoying when players like Google don't care enough about the need for platform agnosticism because it makes others think it's not a necessary consideration.