
Chrome VP: No More Cr-48s, Chrome OS Devices This Summer - dcawrey
http://www.thechromesource.com/chrome-vp-no-more-cr-48s-chrome-os-devices-this-summer/
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dminor
Headline is a bit ambiguous: there _will be_ Chrome OS devices this summer
(according to Google).

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beaumartinez
A semicolon instead of a comma would have made all the difference.

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joebadmo
I just hope that some of the hardware manufacturers take some design cues from
the Cr-48. The logo-less minimalist matte anti-chrome (ironic) is really doing
it for me.

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TomOfTTB
I can't see many of these selling. And in saying that I’m not saying I don’t
think ChromeOS will succeed. I’m saying I can’t even imagine a scenario where
it does.

Unless Google does several MAJOR updates in the next couple months the Chrome
devices will be feature deficient to the extreme. Windows netbooks can do 99%
of what a PC can do. On a smaller screen and with a weaker processor but they
can still do it. ChromeOS can barely handle reading an SD Card.

On the other side of the equation Windows netbooks can do everything a
ChromeOS netbook can by simply installing the Chrome browser. The machine
won’t come on in 6 seconds but other than that a Chrome-based netbook has no
advantages.

This could be overcome if Google had embraced the community and sought out
advocates for web based computing (that’s how Firefox spread virally). But
they haven’t done that. In fact what they did do was send a CR-48 to every
hardware reviewer on the web only to have it panned over and over and over
again. So instead of having ChromeOS fan sites they have Engadget and
TechCrunch saying “this kind of sucks”

Given all that I just don’t see these selling

Edit: I forgot to mention you have HP pushing WebOS on all its computers which
has a lot of the advantages of ChromeOS and a lot more features to boot.

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stcredzero
_I can't see many of these selling. And in saying that I’m not saying I don’t
think ChromeOS will succeed. I’m saying I can’t even imagine a scenario where
it does._

I can. I'll take the opposite bet. (Not an extravagant amount. I'm
bootstrapping right now. Wanna give me odds?)

 _Unless Google does several MAJOR updates in the next couple months the
Chrome devices will be feature deficient to the extreme._

Features aren't what matters.

 _Windows netbooks can do 99% of what a PC can do. On a smaller screen and
with a weaker processor but they can still do it._

Yes, but how good is the netbook experience? Can Google do for a laptop-like
form factor what Apple did for tablets? I think yes. In particular, Google
seems to have recognized that, as far as security and cryptography
infrastructure goes, the computing mainstream is in a state of _poverty_. As
far as having workable security infrastructure in place, we are in a state
analogous to pre-industrial nations physical infrastructure. (Or maybe the
internet in the days when there were still BBS and AOL was up and coming.)

Google gets it. They're doing something about it in a walled garden of their
own making. If they succeed, they're going to revolutionize owning a computer
in a way that the interstate highways changed car ownership in the US. (And
no, Apple doesn't quite get this yet. They get the walled garden part, but
they are still a little incompetent with security.)

It's just hard to see for us right now, because we're used to the crappy way
things are, just like people were used to driving on narrow, winding, poorly
paved roads without seatbelts.

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glhaynes
What would cause security to become such a huge selling point for the broader
market, though, which mostly stuck with Windows back in the bad ol' days?

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stcredzero
Wasn't Apple using security as a OS X selling point for awhile? It's all a
part of the "it just works" selling point. Security for most computer
platforms is a pain in the 4ss. One of the few where it's not: Google Chrome.
I have to say that my Macbook and iPad do a pretty good job of "it just
works." That's a far cry from my dad's Thinkpad, where Firefox and IE both
have like 7 toolbars.

A lot of suboptimal user behavior is like those dogs in the cages with
electrified floors. Everything/everywhere sucks, so you just lie down on it
and accept the suck as normal. (The dogs in the experiment were eventually
just lying down on the electrified floor.)

Basically, if you're to have a hope of delivering the highest levels of "it
just works" then you're going to have to build some security infrastructure to
support it.

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thekevan
(CR48 owner here.) I would not think many of these will sell either.

The device does what it is supposed to do very well--let the user live in the
cloud. However it doesn't let the user do much when they are not connected.
Understandable given the purpose of the device, but outside of the geek-
culture you are not going to find a lot of people where this is acceptable. I
can see this as a popular cult item or niche item, but not something with
mainstream appeal.

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patrickaljord
> but outside of the geek-culture you are not going to find a lot of people
> where this is acceptable

I would say the opposite, most non-geek people I know consider computers to be
useless without an internet connection, geeks can always open a terminal and
do some hacking though.

~~~
thekevan
Right but many of those people will not want a computer that doesn't have
Solitaire or MS Word.

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sroerick
Just wait. ChromeOS netbooks are gonna be free, with a 3g contract. ChromeOS
is dropping this year.

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wmf
Netbooks are $300-400, while the usual subsidy from a contract is $150-200.
Perhaps Google is willing to make up the difference via an advertising
subsidy, but I doubt a Google user is worth $100 over 2 years. Also, the idea
of getting a separate $2,000 3G contract for a netbook sounds like a terrible
deal.

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joebadmo
Doesn't that initial $300-400 include a WinXP (albeit crippled?) install? I
think especially at this price range, that could be a significant
differentiator.

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cryptoz
In the netbook market, I believe Microsoft started paying manufactures to
install Windows. There was a fast - and from Microsoft's position, _scary_ \-
rise in Linux netbooks, and to counter that I'm pretty sure that OEMs were
paid to install Windows, not the other way around.

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ssp
What I heard is that they dropped the price of XP significantly, but not below
0. I'm having a lot of trouble believing that Microsoft would sell Windows at
a loss.

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MatthewPhillips
I want a ChromeOS tablet, not a notebook. I'd gladly trade my iPad for a
ChromeOS tablet with a touch interface and NaCl built-in.

