I was surprised there wasn't a dedicated thread to the Chrome OS (There was one from 2+ years ago) and Chromebooks.
The only reason I bring this up now is that I just won an eBay auction for a CR-48, which was the developer platform/tech demo unit that Google gave away to 60,000 people.
It comes with 24 months of 3g through Verizon, but only 100 megabytes a month.
Its basically a netbook that only runs the Chrome browser, which obviously has some limitations. The main one that I'm worried about is the lack of CPU power from the Atom processor, especially when it comes to flash and streaming video.
Other than that, the idea is that everything is already browser and cloud based, and especially for someone as invested in Google services as me, its not far off. I can access all my Docs through Google Docs, my music through Google Music, obviously browse the web, and even play the Chrome app of Angry Birds (depending on performance). It should be interesting to play with at least.
So with no local apps and no easily accessible general purpose storage, would you call it a defective Windows netbook, or just a bigger, crippled Android phone?
(I kid, I kid...iPad early adopters took similar abuse)
Have you followed ChromeOS really closely prior to getting the Cr-48? Do you think Google is more committed to the idea of ChromeOS, or to Android growing up and branching out into similar form factors?
I've followed it pretty closely, and I can't exactly say I'm a huge believer in where its headed. There are two Chromebooks currently available retail, one from Acer and one from Samsung, and they're both in the $400 range. I believe that's WITHOUT the 2 year 3g deal. So that's just a terrible deal. Might as well buy a $400 laptop or tablet at that point.
However, if they can push the price point down, these start being more viable. It seems like it would be cheaper to build a Chrome netbook than one you have to license Windows for, but who knows how all that works.
I paid $245 for the CR-48, brand new, with 24 months of 100 Megabyte/month 3g. At that kind of price, I think these things would sell like crazy. I also love the black on black, badgeless design of the CR-48, which is one of the other main reasons I bought it.
I paid $245 for the CR-48, brand new, with 24 months of 100 Megabyte/month 3g. At that kind of price, I think these things would sell like crazy. I also love the black on black, badgeless design of the CR-48, which is one of the other main reasons I bought it.
Yeah, at that price I'd investigate one for sure. And they definitely look cool in their current incarnation.
Cool that you got one, you'll have to let us know what you think.
My money's against Chromebooks though. Google has a history of not being able to explain their value proposition. "it's a laptop, but you don't have to deal with the hassle of updates" won't sell to mainstream America. They never cared about updates before, so why start now?
"it's a laptop, but incredibly cheap" would probably sell, but the price of these things is comparable to most netbooks (which do everything a Chromebook does AND run regular applications as well) and in some cases more expensive. It's mind boggling.
Don't get my wrong, I get it - less is more. I just don't think Google will be able to sell that value proposition to many people.
It's clever and cute and they do a good job of describing WHAT it is. Good, I'm aware of it.
Am I persuaded to buy it? No. For most people having the ability to choose a desktop background is one of the few things they like about their computer, and I'm not overly worried about my laptop falling out of a window or into a river.
Again, just my personal opinion. We'll have to wait a couple years to see what happens (which should be interesting)...but I haven't really heard a lot of buzz (other than the initial launch) about them just yet.
Last edited by Flames0910; 07-12-2011 at 08:06 PM.
Yeah, I'm only defending them a little, because to me if you're going to have "nothing but the web" it should be cheaper than something that has "more than just the web". Possibly even subsidized by Google since they make more money the more people use the internet and inevitably see AdSense ads.
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Oh, is this the thread where we post pics of our 5 year old black Macbooks?
Much like Android originally was targeting Blackberry, I think they blew their load too quick with Chrome OS and failed to see where the market was going.
Nobody will want this when they can get a full fledged OS on a tablet, phone or laptop.
What will be more interesting to me than the current incarnation of ChromeOS is whether Google will bore of it and let it wither. They seem to have little reservation about trying stuff (Google Health, Google Power, Wave, Latitude, Google Answers, and Knol are some that spring to mind) where they talked a good talk and then seemed to bore of the projects and fail to see them through.
I guess its just a different philosophy, to enter a bunch of areas and stick with the ones that work, but ChromeOS seems like a risky venture if they tire of it after you're invested in the technology.
I'm not piling on ChromeOS, it's certainly interesting, but I grow skeptical of Google sometimes when they seem to cast such a wide net with only limited returns. If I were a shareholder I'd certainly wonder if their failed projects outside their core competency (advertising...) were really worth it.
All that being said, I can certainly see the appeal of trying one out, and its definitely a neat toy to have!
You can install Chrome OS inside a Parallels VM on a Mac. I've messed around with it a few times. It's neat, but it gets old fast. I'm also not a fan of making EVERYthing I do on a computer a target for Google ads.
It's definitely the future with the way things are going regarding the internet and communications. We need the personal space and power of our computers less and less. But it's probably a few years away yet from reaching it's full potential, or at least a useful enough potential that a lot of people would use one or switch to one.
This is what Oracle wanted to do 15 years ago when they wanted to buy Apple and turn it into a company that only made network computers that did all their computing on the cloud so Oracle could sell more servers.
This is what Oracle wanted to do 15 years ago when they wanted to buy Apple and turn it into a company that only made network computers that did all their computing on the cloud so Oracle could sell more servers.
An entire computer that reports back to google everything that you do. What could possibly go wrong?
I don't actually fear stuff like that... I just wonder what paranoid people think about stuff like this. Google might as well start up an online dating site. They probably know more about me than my own mother at this point.
An entire computer that reports back to google everything that you do. What could possibly go wrong?
I don't actually fear stuff like that... I just wonder what paranoid people think about stuff like this. Google might as well start up an online dating site. They probably know more about me than my own mother at this point.
Unconfirmed: Google in talks to purchase OK Cupid.
First impressions: Well built. Good keyboard. Less good touchpad. Well, I guess I don't know if that's fair, I like left and right "mouse" buttons on laptops, so the choice not to have them is surely affecting my feeling about the touchpad. I'm still getting used to it.
The big thing I was worried about (CPU speed and Flash performance) isn't looking too bad. It can handle Civ World on Facebook, and ran a 2 minute Hulu clip without much stuttering. Obviously I won't be turning things up to HD, but that's not really what a $245 laptop is for.
I got the Verizon 3G activated, which wasn't as painless as it should have been, but it may have been coincidental 3G network issues rather than CR-48 problems.
From a couple hours' worth of playing with it, I'd say if they could sell these for $250 they'd sell a ton. At $400, I'd be unhappy with what I have here.
Last edited by QuadCityImages; 07-19-2011 at 06:59 PM.
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Google Chromebooks
