6 ms·

Care to explain how come Chrome OS is dead?

by listic 16y ago

siglesias 16y ago
Because netbooks are not the future of ultraportable computing; tablets are, and Chrome OS is primarily part of a mouse and keyboard driven paradigm. Also it is making increasingly little sense for Google to support two divergent operating systems.
- points 16y ago
  That's just ridiculous. Is this theonion.com ? Step outside the bubble for a second. Most people don't have tablets, and don't want tablets.
  - com 16y ago
    I was extrememly surprised at the number of people at Singapore's Changi airport who were using their (Apple) tablets in the departure lounges. Still a small percentage of total laptop users, but very noticeable. And the number of kids showing their parents how easy it was to be online with iPads in the various shops that were selling them. Step outside the bubble yourself - "most people" don't understand the complicated "Start" menu - they just want to get on with using the web so they can do their internet banking, buy cheap airfares or look at gossip sites. Preferably not at desk. Or with a keyboard.
  - rakkhi 16y ago
    I think he is probably drawing on sources like this: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1698213 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1698213 That has best buy saying tablets are cannibalizing their netbook revenue. This does not mean that netbooks or laptops are dead - personally for the current price I find something like an ACER1215N a lot better value for my usecases than an ipad. This is primarily due to the the HDMI out, USB input for storage, rich client gaming and the fact that I can run any VM for any OS I want. For running MS office / Openoffice also the tactile keyboard is handy without paying for additional accessories. If there are others like my netbooks/laptops may decline but not die completely, I would suggest a 60/40 split in 3 years tablets/laptops respectively.
    - points 16y ago
      Ridiculous. You can't even type on a tablet properly or angle the display. Again, I would say that in 99% of cases, people who buy a tablet are not buying it instead of a laptop, but as well as.
      - Tyrannosaurs 16y ago
        If you're pointed at data which suggests that laptop sales are declining significantly in parallel with the increase in tablet sales, I think you need to provide an argument a little more substantial than bluster. There would seem to be some evidence that some of the people who have to choose now are migrating to tablets but the real test will be when they come to replace them having experienced both. Do they stay tablet or return to a laptop?
      - siglesias 16y ago
        Agreed. However whatever that laptop is going to be, you can bet it will be something more powerful than Chrome OS.
      - CamperBob 16y ago
        What's 'ridiculous' is how much dust seems to be settling on my laptop these days. The history of computing is riddled with corpses with 'ridiculous'-looking exit wounds.
  - c1sc0 16y ago
    Strongly disagree. When I see those little sparks of delight in my mother's eyes when she is using her iPad I think I see a pretty strong predictor of Apple 'being onto something'. Tablets are not about being great multiple-purpose devices. They're about being good enough.
- rakkhi 16y ago
  That is ridiculous why wouldn't Chrome OS run perfectly on a Tablet? e.g. HTC: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/203564/htc_planning_black_friday_launch_of_chrome_tablet.html http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/203564/htc_pla... Also why not try Chrome OS first before you say it is dead: http://chromeos.hexxeh.net/ http://chromeos.hexxeh.net/ Combined with office.live.com I have everything I need for 95% of my needs.
  - unexpected 16y ago
    I agree with you, ChromeOS certainly doesn't look bad. I just have a hard time figuring out - what's the difference between the two? What use case does ChromeOS solve that Android doesn't solve? I consider myself web-savvy and fairly technical. If I have trouble answering this question, what is the average user going to think? People are turning towards experiences - which is a combination of hardware and software. What edge does ChromeOS have that is going to give it a better experience than Android?
    - cryptoz 16y ago
      > What use case does ChromeOS solve that Android doesn't solve? Printing. Browsing the web and writing long emails like a normal user, rather than like a tablet user: no weird issues with mouseover, fully-functional built-in Flash, etc, etc. There are lots of differences between the web experience offered by Android and the web experience offered by Chrome OS. Also, normal people won't have to make a decision in a store about picking "Android" vs "Chrome OS". It's more and more likely that people will pick from the limited few options in the store, and maybe try it out before buying it. If a store sells laptops and some run Windows, some Mac OS X and some Chrome OS, then Chrome OS will be a serious competitor at least in the netbook form-factor. Tablets are often sold in different parts of a store, or at least together in a different display. You'll see people picking between iPads and Andriod tablets. I doubt that normal stores would display Chrome OS tablets in the same area (but I could be wrong).
      - Tyrannosaurs 16y ago
        > fully-functional built-in Flash But, but, but Adobe said that full Flash was coming to mobile platforms everywhere. Are you saying they lied?! Seriously, that's meant to be something Android does.
unexpected 16y ago
I'm sure it's not "dead", but it doesn't have any "e-buzz" right now. It was designed to be a tabletOS - how come all the upcoming tablets are all going to be based on Android? Are Android and ChromeOS going to interact with each other? It seems silly to have two free products that compete with each other doing very similar things - especially when both of them are supposed to offer the same thing experience-wise. Android has all the buzz, Android has the market share, Android has all the apps - if I were a tablet maker, would you put Android (a proven platform right now) or ChromeOS on your new tablet? ChromeOS will need some serious help from Google if it's going to be viable (i.e a Google specific device that shows it off). This is a prognostication on my part (a big one), but if Google relies on it's manufacturing partners (without strong direction), ChromeOS will fail.
- cryptoz 16y ago
  Chrome OS was not designed to be a tablet OS. It can be used on a tablet, but if you read the launch blog post it's very clear they are targeting netbooks, not tablets. Since that day they have of course expanded to include tablets, but suggesting that was the original idea is misleading at best. Also, Chrome OS hasn't been released to the public yet and so it's absurd to call it "dead". The planned release date is in October. Imagine walking in to Best Buy or Futureshop and seeing a line of laptops, some labelled "Microsoft" and some labelled "Google". People are less afraid to move away from MS if they're moving to a company they know and trust, like Google. Calling Chrome OS dead, at least right now, is a very very silly mistake to make.
  - unexpected 16y ago
    We'll see how ChromeOS does! It seems to me that you won't see any netbooks labeled Google - you'll see them marketed as "Acer", "Asus", or "Dell". Focusing on the web experience and printing (to combine your reply to my other comment) seems like a very narrow niche to me. It seems like ChromeOS is trying to position itself between Android and something like Windows 7. Surfing the web and wanting to print is a common use case - but in that example, why would I want a device that does that, but not get a full fledged computer? I can't even install my own apps! Why would I need the capability to print - yet buy a device that pretty much requires me to be online all the time? It just seems very risky to me. Why not add a printing function to Android? Wouldn't it be cool if you could hook up your phone and connect it to a printer and print? Wouldn't Android devices have "proper" flash if they had more powerful processors? (which is a function of mobile processors getting more powerful)?

Care to explain how come Chrome OS is dead?

by listic 16y ago

Care to explain how come Chrome OS is dead?

Because netbooks are not the future of ultraportable computing; tablets are, and Chrome OS is primarily part of a mouse and keyboard driven paradigm. Also it is making increasingly little sense for Google to support two divergent operating systems.

points 16y ago
That's just ridiculous. Is this theonion.com ? Step outside the bubble for a second. Most people don't have tablets, and don't want tablets.
- com 16y ago
  I was extrememly surprised at the number of people at Singapore's Changi airport who were using their (Apple) tablets in the departure lounges. Still a small percentage of total laptop users, but very noticeable. And the number of kids showing their parents how easy it was to be online with iPads in the various shops that were selling them. Step outside the bubble yourself - "most people" don't understand the complicated "Start" menu - they just want to get on with using the web so they can do their internet banking, buy cheap airfares or look at gossip sites. Preferably not at desk. Or with a keyboard.
- rakkhi 16y ago
  I think he is probably drawing on sources like this: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1698213 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1698213 That has best buy saying tablets are cannibalizing their netbook revenue. This does not mean that netbooks or laptops are dead - personally for the current price I find something like an ACER1215N a lot better value for my usecases than an ipad. This is primarily due to the the HDMI out, USB input for storage, rich client gaming and the fact that I can run any VM for any OS I want. For running MS office / Openoffice also the tactile keyboard is handy without paying for additional accessories. If there are others like my netbooks/laptops may decline but not die completely, I would suggest a 60/40 split in 3 years tablets/laptops respectively.
  - points 16y ago
    Ridiculous. You can't even type on a tablet properly or angle the display. Again, I would say that in 99% of cases, people who buy a tablet are not buying it instead of a laptop, but as well as.
    - Tyrannosaurs 16y ago
      If you're pointed at data which suggests that laptop sales are declining significantly in parallel with the increase in tablet sales, I think you need to provide an argument a little more substantial than bluster. There would seem to be some evidence that some of the people who have to choose now are migrating to tablets but the real test will be when they come to replace them having experienced both. Do they stay tablet or return to a laptop?
    - siglesias 16y ago
      Agreed. However whatever that laptop is going to be, you can bet it will be something more powerful than Chrome OS.
    - CamperBob 16y ago
      What's 'ridiculous' is how much dust seems to be settling on my laptop these days. The history of computing is riddled with corpses with 'ridiculous'-looking exit wounds.
- c1sc0 16y ago
  Strongly disagree. When I see those little sparks of delight in my mother's eyes when she is using her iPad I think I see a pretty strong predictor of Apple 'being onto something'. Tablets are not about being great multiple-purpose devices. They're about being good enough.
rakkhi 16y ago
That is ridiculous why wouldn't Chrome OS run perfectly on a Tablet? e.g. HTC: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/203564/htc_planning_black_friday_launch_of_chrome_tablet.html http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/203564/htc_pla... Also why not try Chrome OS first before you say it is dead: http://chromeos.hexxeh.net/ http://chromeos.hexxeh.net/ Combined with office.live.com I have everything I need for 95% of my needs.
- unexpected 16y ago
  I agree with you, ChromeOS certainly doesn't look bad. I just have a hard time figuring out - what's the difference between the two? What use case does ChromeOS solve that Android doesn't solve? I consider myself web-savvy and fairly technical. If I have trouble answering this question, what is the average user going to think? People are turning towards experiences - which is a combination of hardware and software. What edge does ChromeOS have that is going to give it a better experience than Android?
  - cryptoz 16y ago
    > What use case does ChromeOS solve that Android doesn't solve? Printing. Browsing the web and writing long emails like a normal user, rather than like a tablet user: no weird issues with mouseover, fully-functional built-in Flash, etc, etc. There are lots of differences between the web experience offered by Android and the web experience offered by Chrome OS. Also, normal people won't have to make a decision in a store about picking "Android" vs "Chrome OS". It's more and more likely that people will pick from the limited few options in the store, and maybe try it out before buying it. If a store sells laptops and some run Windows, some Mac OS X and some Chrome OS, then Chrome OS will be a serious competitor at least in the netbook form-factor. Tablets are often sold in different parts of a store, or at least together in a different display. You'll see people picking between iPads and Andriod tablets. I doubt that normal stores would display Chrome OS tablets in the same area (but I could be wrong).
    - Tyrannosaurs 16y ago
      > fully-functional built-in Flash But, but, but Adobe said that full Flash was coming to mobile platforms everywhere. Are you saying they lied?! Seriously, that's meant to be something Android does.

unexpected 16y ago

I'm sure it's not "dead", but it doesn't have any "e-buzz" right now. It was designed to be a tabletOS - how come all the upcoming tablets are all going to be based on Android? Are Android and ChromeOS going to interact with each other? It seems silly to have two free products that compete with each other doing very similar things - especially when both of them are supposed to offer the same thing experience-wise. Android has all the buzz, Android has the market share, Android has all the apps - if I were a tablet maker, would you put Android (a proven platform right now) or ChromeOS on your new tablet? ChromeOS will need some serious help from Google if it's going to be viable (i.e a Google specific device that shows it off). This is a prognostication on my part (a big one), but if Google relies on it's manufacturing partners (without strong direction), ChromeOS will fail.

cryptoz 16y ago
Chrome OS was not designed to be a tablet OS. It can be used on a tablet, but if you read the launch blog post it's very clear they are targeting netbooks, not tablets. Since that day they have of course expanded to include tablets, but suggesting that was the original idea is misleading at best. Also, Chrome OS hasn't been released to the public yet and so it's absurd to call it "dead". The planned release date is in October. Imagine walking in to Best Buy or Futureshop and seeing a line of laptops, some labelled "Microsoft" and some labelled "Google". People are less afraid to move away from MS if they're moving to a company they know and trust, like Google. Calling Chrome OS dead, at least right now, is a very very silly mistake to make.
- unexpected 16y ago
  We'll see how ChromeOS does! It seems to me that you won't see any netbooks labeled Google - you'll see them marketed as "Acer", "Asus", or "Dell". Focusing on the web experience and printing (to combine your reply to my other comment) seems like a very narrow niche to me. It seems like ChromeOS is trying to position itself between Android and something like Windows 7. Surfing the web and wanting to print is a common use case - but in that example, why would I want a device that does that, but not get a full fledged computer? I can't even install my own apps! Why would I need the capability to print - yet buy a device that pretty much requires me to be online all the time? It just seems very risky to me. Why not add a printing function to Android? Wouldn't it be cool if you could hook up your phone and connect it to a printer and print? Wouldn't Android devices have "proper" flash if they had more powerful processors? (which is a function of mobile processors getting more powerful)?