Woke up this morning feeling melancholy. Now, it’s the last morning of my little mini break so you might assume it’s because I’m coming to the end of a nice holiday and not wanting to go back to regular life; but that’s not it.
While I’ve certainly enjoyed it, had relaxing times as well as adventures with the family; I have the nagging feeling this morning that it’s all been wasted time. I somehow don’t feel rested, like I haven’t been on holiday at all.
For the parents out there, my kids are not the cause of it (this time). At 11 and 14 years, they are mostly independent and, apart from occasionally annoying their mother, have been fine.
One thing I’ve noticed on this trip is my wife asking me a few times if I’m alright? Clearly she’s been perceiving something before I’ve even noticed.
But now my nagging issue is what is it exactly that I am feeling? I’ve been through my battles with depression before, but those times were easy to notice with an overwhelming sadness that would envelop me. This is very much not that feeling.
In general I feel ok. I don’t love my work but it certainly isn’t a cause of stress. Family life is good, finances are stable.
The why I’m feeling whatever it is I’m feeling right now is the biggest frustration.
Within 2 years, The Browser Company let down its most loyal users
Over the past few days, I’ve noticed a number of blog posts lamenting the slow death of the Arc browser as it is no longer being actively worked on. A lot of the posts are from long term enthusiastic users of the browser since its release in 2022, as Arc gained traction quickly and earned a lot of praise in its ideas of what a modern browser should be.
However with the company moving onto its next browser Dia, will those users take to its new product with as much enthusiasm?
For myself, it feels like abandoning Arc has left a question mark around why you should trust and invest the effort into any product from The Browser Company moving forward.
Sure, many who loved Arc will also try Dia once it is available to them. However, it would be foolish to go all-in on a product from a company who now has a track record of killing much loved products without a clear reason.
Browsers may be easier to migrate to and from compared to mobile operating systems as an example; but it’s still an annoyance if you have gone all in on a browser and how it works, and are now forced to give that up.
Sound familiar? That’s because its the same reputation Google has built over at least the last decade, most notably since its culling of Google Reader. Hell, there’s even a page dedicated to outlining all the products they have killed over the years.
Seemingly, The Browser Company got to that level of distrust in two years.
Much in the same way I was observing Arc from afar, I’ll be doing the same for Dia as it progresses. This time, I think many former Arc loyalists will also be doing the same.