>> I like that I can search Google by voice in Chrome,
>Chrome is a blessing for enthusiastic Google users, but not all people feel the same way.
My six year old isn't so much an enthusiastic Google user, but she sure does like voice search, since it is really the only option.
>> MIDI support
>More access to HW is the last thing I want from the web at this moment. I'd rather that browser vendors focus on making the privacy footprint
smaller, not bigger.
I'm not really seeing Chrome suffering from privacy problems coming from MIDI devices.
But, you know, if you aren't into making music or learning keyboard or what have you, I guess you wouldn't care about MIDI. It's kind of a big deal to me (and again, 6 year old), so I'd miss it badly. Likewise, if you aren't into videochatting you'd probably be fine if your browser doesn't talk to your webcam or microphone. Etc. Ok.
BTW, if the browser doesn't support MIDI, and you want to use MIDI, you need to install native apps. Those are often a bigger threat, need to be made for each platform, etc.
> if you aren't into making music or learning keyboard or what have you, I guess you wouldn't care about MIDI
Considering the aforementioned problems, why would it make sense for browsers to prioritize MIDI above all else? And I highly doubt your six year old would refuse to use native apps, given the chance.
> (native apps) are often a bigger threat
I choose my native apps with care. For many apps, moving to the web doesn't mean that I would have to stop caring about trust. It just means that I would have to start being more careful about which sites I visit if browsers keep on exposing random HW details.
> need to be made for each platform
If you're only supporting Chrome, then you've stopped caring about portability. You're making it the user's fault if they don't use Chrome.
"why would it make sense for browsers to prioritize MIDI above all else?"
Who said above all else? That's pretty black and white. You could make the same argument if Firefox didn't support, say, microphone or camera. If you don't happen to use them (say, you don't use video chat as many didn't prior to 2020), you could ask why they are so important.
It's just one thing that Chromium does (and has done for year), that Firefox doesn't.
>And I highly doubt your six year old would refuse to use native apps, given the chance.
Which native app? The one she uses only works in a browser, and wouldn't work natively because it uses other things a native app can't use (such as YouTube interaction/synchronization). Also the graphics are far superior to anything I've seen not done in a browser, because it taps into other things that would be immensely difficult if the browser didn't make them available at a pretty high level.
I use my browser to read, watch, and listen, as do many others. I have never heard of people creating music with Chrome. Support for MIDI should be the last thing browser vendors should be concerned with right now.
You probably hadn't heard of people watching videos in a browser until someone made a compelling app. Same goes for so many other things that run in browsers.
The question you haven't answered is why would I want to use a browser for that? Why do you suggest that native apps are unfit for creative purposes? Browsers are somewhat unique in that it's a runtime that runs untrusted code from the internet, and I simply don't want such a security-critical runtime acquiring more capabilities without second thought. Especially for things like access to HW. Remember the fiasco with the Battery Status APIs? Remember how it's main usage in the wild was to enable user tracking?
I agree with you. "Politics" aside, Chromium-based browsers just work better. It's odd that the 10xer super-hacker influencers here think that if you use MIDI, you're part of the problem.
>Chrome is a blessing for enthusiastic Google users, but not all people feel the same way.
My six year old isn't so much an enthusiastic Google user, but she sure does like voice search, since it is really the only option.
>> MIDI support
>More access to HW is the last thing I want from the web at this moment. I'd rather that browser vendors focus on making the privacy footprint smaller, not bigger.
I'm not really seeing Chrome suffering from privacy problems coming from MIDI devices.
But, you know, if you aren't into making music or learning keyboard or what have you, I guess you wouldn't care about MIDI. It's kind of a big deal to me (and again, 6 year old), so I'd miss it badly. Likewise, if you aren't into videochatting you'd probably be fine if your browser doesn't talk to your webcam or microphone. Etc. Ok.
BTW, if the browser doesn't support MIDI, and you want to use MIDI, you need to install native apps. Those are often a bigger threat, need to be made for each platform, etc.