3 ms·

Can Chrome OS run games, or music-making applications (synthesizers, drum machines), or really anything that isn't in a web page?

elblanco 17y ago
That's a good question, and I get where you are coming from with it. The iPad/phone/touch devices let you run local apps that can take more efficient advantage of the hardware the software is running on. But from what I can tell, the vast majority of apps are simply portals to data on the internet anyway -- in some cases just exact reproductions of the mobile version of some site (Wolfram Alpha anybody). And as Google has demonstrated, pretty advanced apps can be built on the web, that work great on the phone (and has the nice side benefit of circumventing Apple's ridiculous approval process). I think that if you look strategically where Google is heading (faster Javascript, native apps - which I think now supports ARM, embedded flash, etc.), running stuff embedded in a web page shouldn't really be any less efficient than running a local app. The good short-term rebuttal is that Apple can do it now, with local apps. Longer term, if the development ecosystem for web-based apps gets sophisticated enough, it won't really matter if you own an iPhone, iPad, Chrome OS device, Android phone, whatever...because the app will be pulled off of a website completely circumventing Apple's walled garden. Your two examples, games and music-making apps, are already widely available over the web right-now. So yes, a Chrome OS box can run those things. http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/open_source/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224201220 http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/open_source/sho... http://armorgames.com/ http://armorgames.com/ http://aviary.com/tools/Myna#googtrans/auto/en http://aviary.com/tools/Myna#googtrans/auto/en http://blog.soundseller.eu/2009/11/online-audio-editor-aviary-myna/ http://blog.soundseller.eu/2009/11/online-audio-editor-aviar... http://vimeo.com/8525101 http://vimeo.com/8525101 http://blog.soundseller.eu/2010/03/spectrum-visualization-with-the-html5-audio-data-api/ http://blog.soundseller.eu/2010/03/spectrum-visualization-wi...

elblanco 17y ago

That's a good question, and I get where you are coming from with it. The iPad/phone/touch devices let you run local apps that can take more efficient advantage of the hardware the software is running on. But from what I can tell, the vast majority of apps are simply portals to data on the internet anyway -- in some cases just exact reproductions of the mobile version of some site (Wolfram Alpha anybody). And as Google has demonstrated, pretty advanced apps can be built on the web, that work great on the phone (and has the nice side benefit of circumventing Apple's ridiculous approval process). I think that if you look strategically where Google is heading (faster Javascript, native apps - which I think now supports ARM, embedded flash, etc.), running stuff embedded in a web page shouldn't really be any less efficient than running a local app. The good short-term rebuttal is that Apple can do it now, with local apps. Longer term, if the development ecosystem for web-based apps gets sophisticated enough, it won't really matter if you own an iPhone, iPad, Chrome OS device, Android phone, whatever...because the app will be pulled off of a website completely circumventing Apple's walled garden. Your two examples, games and music-making apps, are already widely available over the web right-now. So yes, a Chrome OS box can run those things. http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/open_source/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224201220 http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/open_source/sho... http://armorgames.com/ http://armorgames.com/ http://aviary.com/tools/Myna#googtrans/auto/en http://aviary.com/tools/Myna#googtrans/auto/en http://blog.soundseller.eu/2009/11/online-audio-editor-aviary-myna/ http://blog.soundseller.eu/2009/11/online-audio-editor-aviar... http://vimeo.com/8525101 http://vimeo.com/8525101 http://blog.soundseller.eu/2010/03/spectrum-visualization-with-the-html5-audio-data-api/ http://blog.soundseller.eu/2010/03/spectrum-visualization-wi...