Chromebook: pros and cons

rbarryza said:
It IS available as a purchase as well. Around $500 I think I read somewhere.
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Where, please ?
Strange, then, that that fact (outright purchase) wasn't included in the article.
Comparatively, a lot of detail went into explaining how the rentals would work.
 
I O U said:
Where, please ?
Strange, then, that that fact (outright purchase) wasn't included in the article.
Comparatively, a lot of detail went into explaining how the rentals would work.
Click to expand...

http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/11/editorial-google-clarifies-chromebook-subscriptions-might-have/

Consumers, of course, will pay a flat rate, and will be looking to Acer or Samsung for warranty work and technical support. The Series 5 gets going at $429 for the WiFi model, while the 3G edition (which does indeed include 100MB of data from Verizon each month for the life of the product) will go for $499. Acer's Chromebook will cost $349 for the WiFi model, while the 3G variant will demand an undisclosed amount more.
Click to expand...

The author thinks it will kill windows. Did you really expect the article to be full of all the facts? :)
 
I think they will need to target business - that seems to be where all operating systems start. I think the netbook platform is a mistake. They should be launching this on thin clients. But what's the killer app?

DOS: Lotus 1-2-3
Mac: PageMaker / PostScript
Windows: Office
ChromeOS: Google Docs?!?!

There are few efficient, productive web apps that can compete with existing desktop solutions. The HTML DOM is terribly slow, for starters. I just don't see anyone relying on ChromeOS for general computing in the near term.

On the other hand I can see all sorts of possibilities for specialized applications hosted on private clouds. Banks, for example, might start using ChromeOS thin clients in their branches or ATMs.
 
Tomtomtom said:
I think they will need to target business - that seems to be where all operating systems start. I think the netbook platform is a mistake. They should be launching this on thin clients. But what's the killer app?

DOS: Lotus 1-2-3
Mac: PageMaker / PostScript
Windows: Office
ChromeOS: Google Docs?!?!

There are few efficient, productive web apps that can compete with existing desktop solutions. The HTML DOM is terribly slow, for starters. I just don't see anyone relying on ChromeOS for general computing in the near term.

On the other hand I can see all sorts of possibilities for specialized applications hosted on private clouds. Banks, for example, might start using ChromeOS thin clients in their branches or ATMs.
Click to expand...

Google Docs isn't anywhere near the level to get enterprise or even SME clients to move over. MS is actually ahead of Google in the cloud docs game; they have really nice online editors, which integrate seamlessly with their offline versions, so if you're at your PC you can use the real editor to edit the online version, otherwise you just go online with the watered down browser version. MS probably has more paying clients for their online office, than Google has in total for their free Google Docs. It's just that Google gets all the press. MS demonstrated a version of Offline Office running on Win8-ARM on the kind of hardware found in a smartphone. The fight has just begun. Interesting times.

The idea of a hosted-only version of all your apps seems like a nice idea, but personally I'd rather get a new PC, have it install all my apps automagically, and use offline versions to edit the cloud data. Much like Steam's model with the online saved games: Get a new PC, let it abuse your line overnight and everything's back to normal, with your latest saved games ready.

I don't see banks using a browser-based solution in ATMs any time soon. They need far more control than that. If anything, Windows8 would be a big winner here... it'll run on the same hardware as Chrome OS, and plug into the corporate infrastructures far better.
 
elvis_presley said:
I don't see banks using a browser-based solution in ATMs any time soon. They need far more control than that. If anything, Windows8 would be a big winner here... it'll run on the same hardware as Chrome OS, and plug into the corporate infrastructures far better.
Click to expand...

ATMs perhaps not just yet, given the lack of hardware access and/or hardware. That's another problem for web apps -- but not a permanent one. Chrome has cloud print, which is a start.

But you can imagine call centre and branch staff could be given ChromeOS thin clients to run their proprietary web app frontends. Now you can actually leverage the limited low-level API to improve security on these machines. I'm not sure what they do about security currently on their Windows/IE setups, but it's sure to be ugly.
 
rory said:
I find it almost impossible to work without an internet connection on any computer now so would feel this is a small con.
pros would include.
automatic backup.
no antivirus required
all ones data is immediately available on another computer if stolen (in SA this is NB)
maintenance is automatic
as google upgrades cloud software one always uses latest software and tools
Click to expand...

Another BIG pro: Bye-bye Microsoft!!
 
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