Intern Sweatshop: RockMelt May Potentially Rock My Internet, Hopefully

RockMelt (yeah, it's an awful name) is a new browser based on Chrome that integrates social networking, chat and news right into your browsing.

It. Looks. Awesome.

Let's be honest, some of us have too many programs running on our computer. I, for one, am a big news/social network nut and can have five or six programs running at a time. RSS feed readers, chat clients, Twitter clients, link sharing apps, the kitchen sink: it's too much. I've tried moving it all online, using web apps for everything so I can do it all from my Internet browser. Good idea, but now I perpetually have five or six browser tabs open. This predicament is why I was very excited when RockMelt was announced yesterday.

You can check Twitter, share links and get feed updates without visiting any of those sites. It might finally be the all in one Internet workflow I have always dreamt cautious dreams about. Disclaimer: I am a bit weary of having things popping up right in my browser. With my present setup, I can ignore the tabs I have open or just close them if I need to focus. RockMelt might prove to be information overload. Techcrunch put it bluntly.

The other forseeable downside is privacy. Having all our social networks tied right into our browser could be the next step toward ol' Zuckerbug tracking literally everything we do. The implications are a bit creepy. Google and Facebook already tailor ads to your search terms and interests, respectively. Imagine if Facebook started sending you chat messages based on the sites you visited yesterday? Yeah, not cool.

Though I am a bit guarded in my excitement, I am definitely excited to try RockMelt. Downloading the browser is still invite only, so I'll have to wait for my potential social network salvation for now. Until then, check the intro video and let me know if you're as intruiged as I am.



Kyle Sacks, Future Early Adopters Anoymous Member/Intern