I think I preferred talking about it to writing about it as really I just wanted to spout off thoughts and ideas, and hear other people’s. My writing wasn’t real journalism, it was more if it goes this way my guess is it ends badly.
There are some real extremes here.
At worst: Google is forced to sell Chrome, someone shitty buys it, squeezes it, and ruins it, maybe even kills it. Google stops investing time and money in the web. Chromium languishes. Google is also forced to stop writing checks to make other browsers the default search engine. This impacts Apple’s profits to the point they choose to stop investing in Safari/WebKit and only encourage iOS specific development. Mozilla is toast. All browser engines on life support.
At best: Google is slapped on wrist with fine. All browser engines are able to continue investing in a better web. Browsers are forced to ask users which search engine they would like to be default, perhaps even all operating systems forced to allow real browser choice and ask about browser defaults. Justice department focuses on user privacy. Developing for the web first becomes (remains?) obvious best practice.
I know these are the two extremes, but it seems like Mozilla is toast in all but the best case scenario. I don’t know how they survive without the Google money.
Saying all other browser engines would be on life support seems hyperbolic. The internet & browsers existed before Chrome, and they’ll continue after it.
If Chrome goes away, there’ll be a huge vacuum that can be filled by other browsers. If Mozilla can weather the storm (I doubt they could – at least in their current incarnation), Firefox would see an increased adoption.
IMO – if Chrome goes away, the biggest consequence is people stop developing “for the web” and check only Chrome. Google has a bigger monopoly than IE had back in the day (source: My brain), which isn’t good for innovation.