
First Day Review: The Google Chrome OS Cr-48 Notebook - nicola
http://searchengineland.com/first-day-review-the-google-chrome-os-cr-48-notebook-58322
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jonknee
It sounds like he applied without ever reading about Chrome OS...

"Immediately, I realized even if I could get Twhirl to install, this was
impossible with Chrome OS. There seems to be no concept of minimizing your
browser, much less letting it take up less than the entire screen."

He's trying to install desktop software and minimize the browser _in a browser
based OS_. That he can't do what he wants is central to the entire strategy of
the OS.

~~~
sullivandanny
I'm with the press. I was given the computer without having to apply.

I tried to install Twhirl out of curiosity, to see what would happened. I
didn't expect it to work. It didn't. But it was interesting to try. Sometimes
you discover things that way.

~~~
tmcw
> I'm with the press. I was given the computer without having to apply.

If you're with the press, shouldn't you - more than other people even -
research things?

~~~
sullivandanny
Sure. Which part of a review written from the perspective of someone who was
trying out a brand new computer as if they were a consumer who had just been
handed it and told to try with no instructions did you find poorly researched?

------
zazi
The Google Chrome Notebook does not work like a normal desktop and is probably
not supposed to. It's not surprising that he wasn't used to it. What's
insightful that he expected it to work like a normal desktop and couldn't get
his mind to work otherwise. This is something that google probably has to
overcome.

Apple's iPad did not have such teething problems probably because it looks and
feels so different from a conventional laptop. No one expected the iPad to be
used like a normal laptop. Google can probably take a page out of the iPad
chapter to see how to manage expectations of their notebook. A simple start
would probably be to name it something else other than a notebook. The Chrome
webBrowser. Browserbook. webBook. ok, i'm probably not good at names, but you
get the idea.

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roadnottaken
Wow, surprise surprise: a Chrome netbook can not serve as a replacement
workstation for a sysadmin. Were these really intended as anything but a
casual computing device?

~~~
sullivandanny
Yes, Google is positioning them as the future of computers and replacement
devices for millions of people. Also, I'm not a sysadmin. I was just trying to
write a blog post using it, actually. To get a picture from my phone and into
the post, right now Google wants me to upload it from the phone to the cloud,
then down to my machine. Sneakernet also works -- might be nice to support
that, too. And it'll come.

~~~
TheAmazingIdiot
Google doesn't seem to be that obtuse.

Example: I was syncing up my blackberry calendar with Google Calendar. Now, I
wanted the phases of the moon on my phone's calendar, but did not want to type
them in. I found a .ical hosted on Apple's website that did just that.
However, it was zipped.

Now, Google Cal has a feature of "Give it a url and we'll make it work". So,
not thinking it would work, gave it the zipped URL in the form of a server
call (not a direct link)... and it Just Works.

I then manually sync my GCal to my blackberry cal, and it works flawlessly. If
this the kind of stuff that Google people do, all the better. It just works.

------
Raphael_Amiard
You can deduce two things out of this post :

\- First, chrome OS is still very alpha software \- Second, this guy will
never be the audience for such an OS.

This certainly leaves the question, for who will this OS be for ? The fact of
not even being able, by design, to have two windows visible at the same time
is a show stopper for me.

I liked the tone of the review in the end, even if it irritated me at first.
The guy is really telling what is bothering him with the os. Some small
things, like the screenshot thing, just tells you that this os isn't finished
yet.

Some other things, like the files thing, looks like a pointer to me, that
google is vastly underestimating the importance of the local storage interface
at the moment.

Even if some people don't really grasp the folder model that well (although
that seems to be true only for older people now), it doesn't imply that you
can take out local storage altogether and have something functionnally
equivalent by plugging the "cloud" in.

The major problem i see with cloud storage at the moment is that for most
people the local storage is still the link between a space of fragmented cloud
storages, and that if you remove it, it really makes things harder more than
easier.

~~~
riobard
“The fact of not even being able, by design, to have two windows visible at
the same time is a show stopper for me”

You cannot have multiple windows on most mobile devices. Or TV's. People live
fine with it.

~~~
sullivandanny
This isn't a mobile device. It's a laptop. If I can take a laptop right now
with Chrome on it, break off two separate windows, why on earth wouldn't I be
able to do that on a Chrome laptop? The answer is that they haven't
implemented it yet. I expect they will.

~~~
riobard
Based on my experience watching non-techy users using browsers, and the design
goal of Chrome OS, I don't think it is going to happen anytime soon.

Quick question: if you can split into two windows, why not 4? 8? Then you end
up with a Window-based UI, which is more complicated than simple tab-based.

It is very limiting, but I don't think normal people who just check their
emails and Facebook updates would find annoying.

~~~
sullivandanny
I agree. I think few people would be upset if they couldn't open up two
separate browser windows. That's hardly a product killer, in and of itself.

------
LordLandon
Some thoughts:

It's a little odd that it wouldn't allow you to install Chrome extensions from
outside of the market

The external harddrives probably DID work, and would show him images if he
used something that required browsing for them

As much as I hate to admit it, he's right about iTunes. Who with an
iP{{o,a}d,oop} would be able to use this thing alone as primary pc?

How do floating pop up type windows work? I.e. clicking the pop out button on
google chat, or hulu

For a web-centric machine, those 3g plans seem a little towards the expensive
side, with pretty low data allowances. But on the other hand, I don't really
know how many bytes "regular browsing" accumulates in a month.

~~~
sullivandanny
Hard drives definitely don't work. Google confirmed that with me when I talked
with them after the review. The promise this will come.

Extensions will work if they don't use some API thingee (that's the technical
term) that Google doesn't find secure enough. Don't have my notes, but NP/API?
Anyway, most of the stuff in the market they tell me should be fine -- but
even there, not all of it will be, guaranteed, I was told. In short, Chrome in
Chrome OS is not exactly the same as the Chrome browser.

On iTunes, we'll all be using music from the cloud. Seriously -- my second day
interview with them will get into this. Maybe so. But if you're into Apple
devices, you're still going to need iTunes.

On 3G, I have a 5GB plan that I've used for years. Never gone over my limit.
But, I only use it for when I'm traveling, about 5 days or so per month. If
this was your main plan, expensive. But Google positions it as something you
can use if you're out and away from WiFi.

------
robryan
I assume these would work okay for bloggers/ writers in general. Sure I'm
probably underestimating some of the tools professional writers use to
organize things.

I think the main use case is really outside work, those that just want to use
things like facebook/twitter and various chat platforms. Although the netbook
is really the wrong form factor, you really either want a tablet or something
closer to the air. With the netbook it feels like they are giving everything
you can do on a regular computer but then ripping most of it out via software.

------
ddemchuk
The vast majority of the things he was trying to do are outside of the planned
usecase of this device. It's like if someone was disappointed at the lack of
photoshop on the iPad...it simply wasn't designed for that.

~~~
wvenable
I was surprised that these devices have atom processors and SSD drives as
opposed to an ARM chipset and embedded flash because the former specs
essentially put it in netbook territory. Why would anyone want a netbook with
such a limited OS?

~~~
Florin_Andrei
> Why would anyone want a netbook with such a limited OS?

Maybe they didn't have tablets for this pilot thing.

~~~
Raphael
Nah, Chrome OS is not designed for touchscreens. There's Android for that.

~~~
sullivandanny
Well, so Google says. That seems a convenient way to get people off their
backs for having both. Google TV runs on Android, not Chrome. Google TV isn't
a touchscreen. The reality is, Google has two different product teams and had
no intention of telling either one to give up on their goals. And with Apple
pushing both MacOS and iOS, it has no immediate need to do so, either.

~~~
tvorryn
Google wants ChromeOS to eventually replace Android. It's cloud vs native, not
Touch vs Keyboard and Mouse, and until cloud based becomes acceptable
everywhere, which is what Google is betting on, they will continue to work on
Android.

