This time we don't have an all powerful Microsoft fighting the web, but Google seems very wiling to take their place. Last browser wars stopped the web evolution for about a decade, just because of a single party that didn't want to be nice.
We've apparently decided that we should use "the web" for everything, whether or not it's a good fit. So yeah, browsers are unavoidably going to accumulate features that used to be the responsibility of apps or the OS. And there will be lots of browser-specific functionality unless you're willing to wait 5 years for W3C or WHATWG or whoever to finalize a standard.
There used to be a time when most of the posts here on HN were "something native IMPLEMENTED IN JavaScript in a BROWSER" but thankfully those times have passed to the most part.
The Internet was heralded as solving cross-platform problems (hurray for XML?) but it seems that writing a native app actually involves less testing. You now have to test in 3 or 4 browsers per platform, not including mobile devices and changes between different versions. The relentless shoving of features into browsers is no different to what they've been doing for years but I can see why people would not enjoy it, particularly with the repeat of "only works in IE" that you see ("only works in Chrome").
This is a very valid discussion. Software engineers would naturally have concerns when a browser built to render web pages gets turned into a pseudo operating system. The risk here is that without focus it won't be a good browser nor a good OS.
[0] https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/mfsa2015-0...
It's possible your argument could be against adding WebRTC itself, instead of Hello, but the topic here is Hello.
Chrome is automatically updated to be jam-packed full of browser-specific APIs and functionality.
Like when Chrome automatically updated and registered itself as a background service without permission.
Or when Chrome automatically installed a microphone listening service for always on "OK Google" hotword detection.
Or the fact that Chrome Apps are less and less "webpages" and more and more "applications that only support the Chrome API".
"To add insult to injury, there is no simple way of disabling the functionality"
I wish I got paid my hourly rate for the sheer amount of time I spend combing through Google Product Forums reading about what arcane chrome://flags or commandline ---arg is required to disable their new functions.
It's a shame what's happening to the web.