

The Next-Generation Browser: No URL Bar - peternorton
http://www.conceivablytech.com/7533/products/the-next-generation-browser-no-url-bar

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nicpottier
The more things change the more they stay the same.

Remember AOL's use of keywords to go to specific pages for companies before
the days of the web? A future without a URL bar gives Google that much more
power, which is just how they want it.

In that future you'll type all your urls in the google search box, and they
get to show you ads for similar sites or topics, assuming you are lucky enough
to be near the top.

I wonder how long before Google introduces a 'keyword' product where you can
register a specific keyword to go straight to your domain.

~~~
Andrex
> In that future you'll type all your urls in the google search box

The URL box and the search box have been merged in just about every current
browser in some form or the other already. To most people, they're actually
the same thing.

The scarier implications of this could be for phishing, which the article
touches on. I'm expecting some kind of visual cue on tabs that are HTTPS
eventually.

> I wonder how long before Google introduces a 'keyword' product where you can
> register a specific keyword to go straight to your domain.

They've had it forever: I'm Feeling Lucky.

~~~
nicpottier
> The URL box and the search box have been merged in just about every current
> browser in some form or the other already. To most people, they're actually
> the same thing.

The semantics are different though.

Type in 'books.com' in your URL bar.

Type in 'books.com' in the Google search box.

Not the same. The former is disappearing.

------
neilk
I'm usually for removing every bit of unnecessary chrome, but this strikes me
as going too far.

URLs aren't optional if we want to have a world wide web. Otherwise it's just
AOL redux. If URLs become this thing that only experienced users know about
(or that we allow naive users to forget about) we're losing something
important.

~~~
nazgulnarsil
how many of your friends telephone numbers do you actually know?

~~~
51Cards
Most of them, I'd say I have 30-40 memorized easily.

~~~
stanleydrew
Surely you must know you are way outside the norm.

~~~
seabee
No kidding, most people use actual phone books or their mobile phone
equivalent.

The key difference between phone numbers and URLs is that everyone recognises
that phone numbers exist, or at least know they're meaningful.

------
henning
URLs will continue to be an important part of the browsing experience.
<http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990321.html> Jakob Nielsen wrote this in 1999
and I don't think much has changed, as recent updates to the article at the
end show.

I love browsers that get out of the way, so displaying the address bar in a
more intelligent way is something I welcome. I doubt it will disappear
entirely.

------
nickolai
Phishers will most certainly love this. The users used to have a chance to see
they were not on a legitimate site. Now that information is hidden at browser
level.

~~~
nodata
I don't want the URL bar going, but...

Users don't know if it's a legitimate site anyway. Plus Google offers phishing
protection.

------
Andrex
Having tried Chrome's "Hide the toolbar" feature in Chrome Canary, I can
honestly say I prefer having the URL bar hidden. There will be some growing
pains, for instance extension badges are not yet available under this setting,
and the back/forward/Wrench buttons look a little out of place, but I do
agree. No URL bars is going to be the standard pretty soon.

------
jbk
What I don't get about this trend (I must be missing something) about software
hiding every toolbar (and sometimes useful ones) to get more "vertical space"
like "vertical space" was a very valuable asset, while the computer industry
is forcing everyone to screens with less vertical resolution...

Moreover, since most websites are fixed-width and that computers are moving to
16/9, I don't get why browsers (I know, not Opera) make it very hard to make
vertical toolbars (like shortcuts and bookmarks, for example) on the sides...

~~~
Andrex
Chrome does have a side tabs option, and I'm sure maximizing horizontal space
will become important going forward.

~~~
mhansen
Where?

~~~
Freaky
about:flags

~~~
uniclaude
Sorry but I can't find it on Chrome OS X (v. 11.0.696.68). Which channel are
you using ?

~~~
Freaky
Ah, you might need the dev channel, I'm on 13.0.767.1.

~~~
uniclaude
Switching right now. Thank you.

------
bhickey
I strongly recommend using Pentadactyl (formerly Vimperator). It removes a lot
of UI kludge and simply makes browsing a better experience.

<http://i.imgur.com/UwhLg.png> <http://dactyl.sourceforge.net/pentadactyl/>

------
briggers
We have a lot to thank the Chrome devs for. I'm keen to see how this new
experiment fares. So long as I can still cmd-L and type with pattern matching,
I'm good.

------
quattrofan
the disappearing URL bar has been happening in the Android browser for as long
as I can remember

------
rooshdi
Another potential alternative to removing the URL Bar could be to camouflage
it. Instead of keeping it white, allow it to blend in with the rest of the
browser's color scheme and UI when not active.

------
p4bl0
Old browsers like lynx, w3m, ... didn't have url bar either. :-)

------
omouse
Phishers won't like this because there will exist things like Web Of Trust
that help identify bad sites. I'm assuming Google will provide the same
functionality.

------
s00pcan
How would I easily modify GET requests without a URL bar?

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billrobertson42
You'll have to pry my URL bar out of my cold dead hands.

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nextparadigms
Google simply wants to make true that proposition that the web browser needs
to be invisible to the user, so people consider more and more web apps over
native apps. Remember, a good rule for UI design is that the UI should be
invisible to the user.

------
seshagiric
If somebody makes it easy to show my favorites without using a separate
toolbar for it, I think that will be far more cleaner UI than show/hiding
address bar.

------
PostOnce
Hide navigation bar -> Ctrl+L to enter a URL. Handy on a netbook, arguably
annoying on a desktop.

~~~
stanleydrew
I'm already using ctrl-L to focus the navigation bar every time. It's very
convenient.

