Build-A-Browser

With so many choices in browsers on desktop, mobile, and even our vehicles, it’s important to look under-the-hood to understand the differences between the engines that power your favourite browser. 

Be that Chromium, WebKit, or Gecko, not all browsers are created equal and have varying features and views on the rights of their users. We’re honoured to be joined by Jon von Tetzchner, the CEO of Vivaldi, an open-source and privacy first Chromium powered browser that could replace Google Chrome.

Jon also explains why we need regulation on the increasingly scary amount of user-profiling that’s happening across the web itself, not to mention many browsers and services. 

Do you remember using the early versions of Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, Opera, or something equally vintage? Or, maybe you had to develop sites that required myriads of tweaks to make them work across platforms and interpretations of web standards. 

We’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

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Episode Links

• Vivaldi – Website | Mastodon
• Jon von Tetzchner – Mastodon
• Mosaic – Wikipedia
• Opera Mini – Wikipedia
• W3C – The World Wide Web Consortium
• Secure DNS – Chromium Blog
• Fastmail – Privacy focussed email, get 10% off your first year with this link.
• Digital Identity – Our chat with Helen Horstmann-Allen from Fastmail
• Vivaldi steers in-car browsing: Now available in the all-new Ford and Lincoln infotainment system

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:05: Introductions
2. 00:04:20: Why So Many Browsers?
3. 00:18:33: What Makes Vivaldi Different?
4. 00:26:24: Is Chrome Becoming IE6?
5. 00:33:06: App Stores
6. 00:38:36: User Profiling
7. 00:54:23: A Browser in Your Car?
8. 01:03:13: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW