The Ubiquitous Google Toolbar
You know, I’m quite fond of Google, but I’m getting irritated with their distribution schemes for Google Toolbar and Google Desktop. Off the top of my head, I don’t think I can come up with a software product that I’ve downloaded recently that didn’t offer to install Google Desktop and/or Google Toolbar.
Call me stupid, but I figure those options added something on the order of 2.5MB to the 
download for the program I actually wanted to install. And since I usually save installers to an Install folder on a USB drive, it chews up 2.5MB of hard drive space for each one of those that includes it!
It’s a little thing, but little things add up, just like 2.5MB plus 2.5MB plus 2.5MB (and so on).
Graham Hamilton explains why the Java SE Runtime Environment includes Google Toolbar:
In searching for possible opportunities, Sun got connected with the Google toolbar team, who were looking for ways to encourage adoption of the Google toolbar. Our goals seemed very compatible. Like Sun, Google was extremely concerned to avoid doing things that would mislead or annoy or disrupt consumers, which was very reassuring.
It probably also helped that many of us are avid users of google.com and that Google in turn does a lot of Java development and contributes to various JCP expert groups. (Did you know that Google is a JCP Executive Committee member?)
I figure the key phrase in all of that is “possible opportunities”. This must be part of a huge cash redistribution project on the part of Google. Hmm…I wonder how I can get on board.
I’m just kidding, of course. If you want Google Toolbar, go download the doggone thing and install it. It’s nice. If you want Google to include results from your own computer, go fetch you a copy of Google Desktop. It’s nice. But don’t force me to download it over and over and over everytime I download some software online. That’s not nice…that’s rude.
(Wouldn’t it be ironic if all of my links to the tools were affiliate links?! Don’t worry, they’re not).
