Ever Trend Zone Mac App Arc has set it up to reinvent the web browser as an “Internet Computer” app. This is something I felt was more personal and usable than a mainstream browser.
Less than two years later, the company announced it had cancelled its Ark in support of the new app (DIA). Also Pitching as a future of internet use…
While ARC may not be challenging market leaders like Chrome or Safari, it has created a loyal and enthusiastic user base to Mac. The company’s original goals seemed very in line with the spirit of the Mac.
We wanted to create something that felt like “your home on the internet.” I made up my work projects, my personal life, all the time I spent in my browser every day. It felt more like a Nintendo or Disney product than a browser vendor. Something with a taste, care and flavour.
I wanted them to open an arc every morning and think, “This is mine, my space.” And we called this North Star Vision an “Internet Computer.”
Given that the company sees ARC as the future of internet access, it surprised many when it began working on a new app with DIA, which is essentially the same goal. What is likely to be an even greater surprise and disappointment is that ARC is currently being discontinued.
The company’s CEO, Josh Miller, wrote a lengthy open letter today explaining the decision. He said the ARC had not taken off as the company wanted, largely due to a steep initial learning curve.
Many people loved Ark – if you’re here, you might be one of them – and we basically benefited from consistent organic growth from day one. But for most people, the arc was so different, there was too much new thing to learn, and the rewards were too little.
That’s because it tried to do too much. Much of what the company saw as a core feature was used only by a small number of users.
While they may have tried to turn ARC into a more accessible app, Miller said they have decided that if they want to have a really simple product, they have to start from scratch. That’s why we’re focusing solely on DIA now.
Early on, Scott Forstall said Arc felt like a Saxophone, just like a Saxophone. Then he challenged us: make it a piano. Anyone can sit and play. This is the idea behind DIA right now. Hide complexity behind familiar interfaces (…)
(simplicity, speed, security) is everything that needs to be part of the foundation of your product. It’s not an afterthought. When this pushed the boundary between whether or not this really was ARC 2.0 last summer, we found out that ARC has too much of a drawback to tackle retrospectively, and that it needs to build a new type of software (and faster).
Sadly, it’s not an open-sourcing arc so that others can continue to develop it. Miller says this is because ARC is built on a development kit that is the company’s “secret source” and that it cannot be open sourced to ADK without doing the same thing.
DIA is designed for what Miller considers as the new world to become the first AI agent (here, the shades of another view expressed today). This app is currently in Alpha Test and will open next to ARC members. You can read the full letter here.
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Ark’s image: Browser company
