
Daring Fireball: Maybe Instead of Two Cars, You Just Need a Car and a Bicycle - mattparcher
http://daringfireball.net/2009/11/a_car_and_a_bicycle
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ZeroGravitas
This just shows how ingrained this mindset is. Even Gruber doesn't think there
is anyone right now who only needs one or two bikes.

Apparently the world consists only of people with two computers. Nobody has a
single computer that is overseeving their needs and it is inconcievable that
there are people who simply haven't bought one yet, perhaps because they are
overwhelmed by their complexity.

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SandB0x
This really reminded me of a Steve Yegge essay: [http://steve-
yegge.blogspot.com/2008/08/business-requirement...](http://steve-
yegge.blogspot.com/2008/08/business-requirements-are-bullshit.html)

 _The easiest way to build a product that kicks ass is to start with someone
else's great idea (camcorders, for instance), and take stuff away._

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iamelgringo
I don't get it. Why are people excited about an OS that does less?

I travel a lot, and I do a lot of programming when I travel. So, I bought an
Acer Aspire A150, I got a spare 9 cell battery and I increased the RAM to 2
GB. And, it runs Windows 7 Ultimate like a charm. I have enough battery life
to last me a 14 hours of coding movie watching and non-stop music listening.
The whole thing is the size of a hard-cover book.

I use Rhapsody for music, which keeps my music libraries synced and Bitbucket
for my code. I use Windows mesh to keep other files synced to the "cloud". I
can switch seamlessly from my 3 monitor dev box at home to my netbook by doing
an "hg pull, hg update"

How does using a "cloud centric" OS help me? Is it cheaper? I got Win 7
Ultimate for free through Bizspark and I have $350 invested in hardware. I
don't really see the advantage of hamstringing my OS. Hardware is cheap.

I understand the theoretical advantage to the third world of using less
hardware, but when I was in Mexico this spring, netbooks were everywhere. They
weren't running Ubuntu, either, they were running pirated copies of Windows.

I'm not trying to troll, but aside from trying to compete with MSFT, how is a
cloud centric OS any better than a typical OS?

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ErrantX
I think in your case, your right, Chrome OS doesnt fit.

But eventually there will be Web apps as good as the local programs for doing
what you want: BitBucket, for example, could launch an online editor that
integrates with them.

Think how much people use the internet, email and chat. I use my netbook
almost exclusively for those things - and I dont think I am alone.

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iamelgringo
But I can do internet, email and chat using any one of the major OS's out
there now. What could a web OS do better than a regular OS + browser now?

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sjs
Be more secure. Maintain itself. Cost nothing. Not lose your data when it
crashes or is reinstalled. Not require any installations or upgrades for any
software you use, ever.

Limits to some of us are freedom to others. It all depends on perspective.

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blasdel
As someone who presently owns five very different bicycles and has never even
had a driver's license, I welcome this computing future.

One of the things that Google appears to be focusing on most intently with
ChromeOS is syncing the state of your workspace environment. If they can
deliver on that, it'd make it worthwhile to own devices in dissimilar form-
factors: like a 1280x800 laptop, a 1024x600 Touchbook, a 800x480 Pandora, and
a 320x480 iPhone 3Gs (the latter three all ARM-based!). I'd even use it on a
1920x1200 desktop if they implement a decent tiling idiom.

All I really need is a very nice web browser and some clever NaCL ports.

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jrockway
I use my eee 901 as my primary computer when I am traveling. It can do
everything my main computer can do, except store my music and video collection
on the internal disk.

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SlyShy
Yeah. I'm actually completely in love with my AAO (and I even store my music
on it, since I got a HD). There's nothing I need a full blown computer for,
and if I really need the screen estate and keyboard, then I just use external
ones. I've written a huge amount of code on my daily bus ride.

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jrockway
I use my desktop keyboard, a Happy Hacking Professional, with my netbook. Both
fit in my standard laptop backpack with plenty of room, and then I don't have
to compromise on the keyboard. (The small screen doesn't bother me; xmonad
makes it easy to deal with.)

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mikeyur
Is there a Mac version of the Happy Hacking keyboard? I had looked at them
before and really liked them, never bought one though.

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nvoorhies
There's dip switches for mac/PC modes.

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protomyth
When I want an ultra-portable / netbook, I generally am some place with
limited access to the internet. I really can't have a device that doesn't work
without connectivity. My home machine almost always is connected, so Google's
strategy is the exact opposite usecase for me. I guess if you are in a bigger
city all the time, Google's model might work for you.

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mattparcher
To be fair, Google has been making strong progress towards offline data
storage for Gmail and other apps, and the Chrome OS will presumably
incorporate this feature (which is actually part of the HTML 5 specification).
This way, you could still access old email and create/edit documents, and the
changes would eventually be synced up once you have an internet connection.

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protomyth
It seemed from all the coverage that no app would work without a connection.

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mbrubeck
Already the GMail mobile web app works offline with both Gears (Android 1.6
and earlier) and HTML5 (iPhone Safari, Android 2.0). The non-mobile Google
Reader site has an offline mode for that works with Gears in Chrome, Firefox,
Safari, and IE.

The Chrome OS webcast made repeated references to data cached locally. I'm not
sure but it sounded like it might even cover more than just apps specifically
written for Gears/HTML5.

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augustus
The top competition for netbooks and the Chrome OS will the smartphones.

Smartphones are in a position to be your second computer in the next few
years. Personally I prefer the smartphone but I can see some people wanting a
web only computer.

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jasonlbaptiste
Agreed. I did not buy an netbook because of my iPhone. I have 3 "computers"-
my macbook pro, my iPhone, and my HTPC. Each is running a different OS for its
specific purpose. Best of all, they all technically talk to each other.

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jasonlbaptiste
It's not even so much "do less", but be focused. A mobile device doesn't need
EVERYTHING a desktop computer can do. It surely could, but it just doesnt make
sense. It needs to be focused on doing things for its purpose. The storm
that's brewing is one we haven't seen in 30 years. Computers are no longer
just the beige boxes under our desk. They're everywhere, and there's an
opportunity for an OS for different purposes. Microsoft may have 90% of the
desktop OS market, but... if you calculated up their overall OS market share
(desktops, smart phones, cloud/web servers, connected televisions, gaming
devices, etc.) i'm sure it's rapidly shrinking and way less than 90%. This is
the part where fear usually should start to set in.

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cameldrv
It depends on the person. I like only having one primary computer that I use
regularly -- I have a laptop that I plug into an external monitor and keyboard
at my desk. A mobile device may not need everything a desktop has, but it is
nice to have your whole desktop available wherever you want to carry it.

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known
Yes. Be American and Buy American (including the crude oil). This way American
economy will recover.

