IMO, Arc browser reminds me of Opera many years ago (even until today). The browser itself, product strategy, etc.

"Arc has grown fast — users quadrupled this year alone — but it has also become clear that Arc is never going to be a truly mainstream product."

"User interviews and data have convinced the company that this is a power-user tool, and always will be."

https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/24/24279020/browser-company-ai-browser-arc

The company behind Arc is now building a second, much simpler browser

Josh Miller says his company isn’t leaving Arc behind, but it’s back to building the “operating system for the internet” it always hoped to create.

The Verge

Looks like Arc's next browser(?), № 10: The Browser: https://browsewith10.com/

Reminds me of Opera 10, the first browser to approach a double-digit version number. There were UA sniffing issues, so their UA had to change to `Opera/9.80` (source: https://www.sitepoint.com/opera-10-user-agent/)

No. 10 — The Browser

The browser with a personal assistant that does your busywork for you.

SigmaOS

A smarter way to browse the internet. Say hi 👋 to your new browser experience!

@hboon honestly the name is so GenZ 😂
@cheeaun

I love Arc. What are your thoughts?

@damon I'm also using it daily.

They have some cool UI experiments/innovations, but over time, it will saturate. The more features they have, the more bugs they have, so it'll turn into "maintenance mode" like any other software. I think the problem is more business-centric; they can't take a bigger slice of the browser market share (thanks Chrome… and Safari?), and they need to make money 🫣 — same story as any cool browsers that pop up over the years

@cheeaun Agreed but maybe they don’t have to. Maybe it can become a powerful utility that’s like a saas. That enough people and businesses will pay for.

@damon possible, not sure if there'll be enough people to pay for a browser.

It'll be boring "maintenance mode" tho', no more fancy "future of browsers" visionary thing 🙈

@cheeaun Using Arc ended up little too much. Chrome’s tabs group seems to be simple mental model and efficient for me.

Wonder how Arc plans to monetize.

@cheeaun Interesting choice with such a new company and small team (as if a web browser could easily be maintained with little resources?).
And the next browser is supposed to be “more AI-centric”. 🙄
I guess there’s no good reason for hope.
@cheeaun hmm.. definitely similar. Opera was a suite though. Haven't used it for many years. Is it still a suite?

@hboon I also haven't use it much for years, only once every few years to "revisit" 😂

It's been quite a roller-coaster ride for them, if you check what they've been doing for past few years 😅