16 years
Here's the real deal, though: Germans hate Google because like Microsoft with Windows and Apple with iTunes, its a big American company that's so popular it seems like a monopoly.
It "seems" like a monopoly? How much more do they need to say it "is"???
For those keeping score at home — or trying to use the Web in Germany — that rules out Chrome, Apple's Safari, Internet Explorer and Mozilla's Firefox because it runs on Google money. What's left? The Opera browser, conveniently built in Europe.
We don´t want to be spied on by American monopolists - isn´t that fair enough? I didn´t know Opera is a non-American browser. I will download it today.
Good reply to the article:
I love Valleywag, but this headline and "article" is sensationalist BS on Fox News level.
First, the headline implies that the government here has any authority with regards to browsers. They don't. What you cited is a recommendation.
Second, claiming that Germans "hate Google because like Microsoft [...] and Apple [...], its a big American company" borders the bizarre.
Both Apple and Microsoft have very high market shares in Germany, and as others pointed out, Google is as popular here as anywhere else on the planet.
Yes, most Germans love their privacy.
Yes, some Germans are suspicious of (perceived) monopolies (which includes German and European quasi-monopolist companies). And last time I checked, misusing monopolies was a no-no in American-style capitalism, too.
No, we are not little sheeple burning American flags so we can use Norwegian browsers (Opera's current market share sadly hovers around 1%).
So cut the crap and just report what happened: Some government agency issued a recommendation with regards to a new beta browser due to privacy concerns. Many people will happily ignore the browser, many will happily ignore the recommendation, because they would even buy their toothbrush from Google. Everything is fine; put your conspiracy theories back where they belong.
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