7 ms·

I really don't understand why people here aren't talking about the real underlying principle of this service. Google has captured the education and cheap laptop

I really don't understand why people here aren't talking about the real underlying principle of this service. Google has captured the education and cheap laptop space with chromebooks. This is the logical extension of that software. Sure they will eventually combine chromeos and android but this is one more step in the direction of everything happening inside of your web browser. The entire reason this is happening is because Google has successfully captured what once was the holy grail of markets, education, and is doing things like this to keep people on chromebooks. ChromeOS could be as important than Android. Especially with the Windows 7 extended life support coming up, Google has less than 4 years to convince people to transfer to their platform instead of Windows 10. I know it seems heretical to imply that it will happen but I think this is a good example that Google considers it not only a real possibility but something that they might actually have a good chance of being able to pull off. The most important thing to realize is that they are focusing on gamers as a trial, the people who are price sensitive and who have to move first off of Windows 7 since they can't pay for extended support even if they wanted it. They can then continue this into the workplace. This is a brilliant move by Google.

ergo14 8y ago
Unless I'm mistaken ChromeOS is only used in US schools on a wide scale.
- thejj100100 8y ago
  My school uses them in the UK but I believe that's a minority. A lot more schools seem to use iPads instead.
- botto 8y ago
  There is a wide deployment in Norway I believe, but indeed, I've not heard of big deployments elsewhere.
- pjmlp 8y ago
  Worldwide it has even less market share than GNU/Linux desktops.
- noir_lord 8y ago
  The only Chromebook I've seen anywhere is the nice one I bought my mum for Christmas year before last, she loves it and I've had no issues supporting it (like not a single one, she uses it constantly as well). I've got a school age stepson nothing there either.
  - superfrank 8y ago
    Give it a couple years and they will be everywhere. I used to work for a company that sold a monitoring and filtering product for school computers. It's only been in the last two or three years that the ecosystem around them has really matured enough that they can compete with Windows machines and iPads on anything other than price. With the way schools' budgets work, we've really only just passed the early adopter stage.
    - pjmlp 8y ago
      Not with the hardware division being downsized.
      - superfrank 8y ago
        Are you referring to Google's hardware division? If you are that doesn't really mean much. Most schools aren't buying fleets of Pixelbooks. They're buying chromebooks from companies like Acer and Asus which make devices that retail in the $200-400 range.
        pjmlp 8y ago
        Yeah, but someone needs to actually develop ChromeOS, without Pixelbooks management might decide to focus elsewhere. And right now from the outside it feels like there is a ramping internal politics going on with ChromeOS, Android, PWA, Flutter, Fuchsia, Kotlin, Dart teams, with upper management giving free reign and let the best win kind of stuff.
        superfrank 8y ago
- richdougherty 8y ago
  Common in New Zealand too.
- smadurange 8y ago
  Not common in Singapore. We do use computers in schools. Usually Windows or Macbooks. Same goes for univerties.
mtgx 8y ago
What worries me is that I read about this being "Chrome-only". Google is not just trying to win in console gaming space here - it's trying to establish itself as the browser monopolist and it seems to be doing it without much subtlety.
- baumandm 8y ago
  I feel like there's a lot more low-hanging fruit that could be added to the Chrome experience to win people over, rather than building a relatively expensive game streaming platform.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- ocdtrekkie 8y ago
  And of course, only Google can build it's game service into it's own browser, and into it's own video sharing site, and into the Play Store. Stadia is Google utilizing multiple of it's existing monopolies to enter into a new space. It's also a major shot at Twitch, not just traditional game platforms like PlayStation and Xbox, since streamers will need to be streaming on YouTube to take advantage of things like Crowd Play.
  - fastball 8y ago
    There's a difference between having a monopoly and being the best product in the market.
    - noir_lord 8y ago
      I'm not sure, if you drive everyone else out the market then you are by elimination the best product in the market (since at that point you are the only product left). Monopoly laws exist for a reason and hard experience and I'm of the opinion that a single large player having complete domination even if they also have technical superiority is something that probably should be broken up.
_wmd 8y ago
An alternative explanation might be that it's a buffer for overprovisioned GPUs for an undersold Cloud service
- zarriak 8y ago
  It could also be a way for AMD to get a ton of GPUs sold after oversupply due to the mining boom/bust.
  - iandanforth 8y ago
    The GPUs are custom for Google.
    - puzzle 8y ago
      Do we know custom how? It might be the same chips with different microcode or whatever GPUs' equivalent is. Is it a custom spin like Intel has been doing for years for Google and Amazon?
- wmf 8y ago
  GCP uses Nvidia but Stadia uses AMD GPUs so they're not sharing hardware.
eanzenberg 8y ago
What you smoking foo? >>The entire reason this is happening is because Google has successfully captured what once was the holy grail of markets, education, and is doing things like this to keep people on chromebooks. Care to share how this tidbit is true? >>The most important thing to realize is that they are focusing on gamers as a trial, the people who are price sensitive and who have to move first off of Windows 7 since they can't pay for extended support even if they wanted it. They can then continue this into the workplace. This is a brilliant move by Google. What gamers are still on Win7? Most are already on 10. Most legit gamers care about input lag, which a streaming service will never solve vs. having hardware wired to your monitor. Most legit gamers use a wired mouse for gods sake because of input lag introduced to wireless mice.
- stcredzero 8y ago
  > doing things like this to keep people on chromebooks. Care to share how this tidbit is true? Lots of filthy casuals just care that they can game. If they can, somehow, why shouldn't they buy the Chromebook? Hell, if that's what they had in school, they might have grown up to like precisely the genres of games that are easy to design around the lag. Most legit gamers care about input lag The majority of people don't notice < 40ms round trip lag, though "legit gamers" often do notice. < 30ms, round trip lag, and few people outside of hardcore FPS players will notice. Get to < 20ms, and you get down to rounding error levels. Don't just ask me. (Hobbyist game dev.) Ask gamedevs and companies who have conducted testing. 40ms roundtrip lag for most of the world seems pretty achievable to me.
  - iknowstuff 8y ago
    > ping google.com Pinging google.com [172.217.5.110] with 32 bytes of data: Reply from 172.217.5.110: bytes=32 time=6ms TTL=50 Reply from 172.217.5.110: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=50 Reply from 172.217.5.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=50 Reply from 172.217.5.110: bytes=32 time=10ms TTL=50 Ping statistics for google.com: Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss), Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds: Minimum = 6ms, Maximum = 10ms, Average = 8ms https://imgur.com/a/eLWFUg3 https://imgur.com/a/eLWFUg3 I'm on GDC public WiFi.

ergo14 8y ago

Unless I'm mistaken ChromeOS is only used in US schools on a wide scale.

thejj100100 8y ago
My school uses them in the UK but I believe that's a minority. A lot more schools seem to use iPads instead.
botto 8y ago
There is a wide deployment in Norway I believe, but indeed, I've not heard of big deployments elsewhere.
pjmlp 8y ago
Worldwide it has even less market share than GNU/Linux desktops.
noir_lord 8y ago
The only Chromebook I've seen anywhere is the nice one I bought my mum for Christmas year before last, she loves it and I've had no issues supporting it (like not a single one, she uses it constantly as well). I've got a school age stepson nothing there either.
- superfrank 8y ago
  Give it a couple years and they will be everywhere. I used to work for a company that sold a monitoring and filtering product for school computers. It's only been in the last two or three years that the ecosystem around them has really matured enough that they can compete with Windows machines and iPads on anything other than price. With the way schools' budgets work, we've really only just passed the early adopter stage.
  - pjmlp 8y ago
    Not with the hardware division being downsized.
    - superfrank 8y ago
      Are you referring to Google's hardware division? If you are that doesn't really mean much. Most schools aren't buying fleets of Pixelbooks. They're buying chromebooks from companies like Acer and Asus which make devices that retail in the $200-400 range.
      - pjmlp 8y ago
        Yeah, but someone needs to actually develop ChromeOS, without Pixelbooks management might decide to focus elsewhere. And right now from the outside it feels like there is a ramping internal politics going on with ChromeOS, Android, PWA, Flutter, Fuchsia, Kotlin, Dart teams, with upper management giving free reign and let the best win kind of stuff.
        superfrank 8y ago
richdougherty 8y ago
Common in New Zealand too.
smadurange 8y ago
Not common in Singapore. We do use computers in schools. Usually Windows or Macbooks. Same goes for univerties.

mtgx 8y ago

What worries me is that I read about this being "Chrome-only". Google is not just trying to win in console gaming space here - it's trying to establish itself as the browser monopolist and it seems to be doing it without much subtlety.

baumandm 8y ago
I feel like there's a lot more low-hanging fruit that could be added to the Chrome experience to win people over, rather than building a relatively expensive game streaming platform.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
ocdtrekkie 8y ago
And of course, only Google can build it's game service into it's own browser, and into it's own video sharing site, and into the Play Store. Stadia is Google utilizing multiple of it's existing monopolies to enter into a new space. It's also a major shot at Twitch, not just traditional game platforms like PlayStation and Xbox, since streamers will need to be streaming on YouTube to take advantage of things like Crowd Play.
- fastball 8y ago
  There's a difference between having a monopoly and being the best product in the market.
  - noir_lord 8y ago
    I'm not sure, if you drive everyone else out the market then you are by elimination the best product in the market (since at that point you are the only product left). Monopoly laws exist for a reason and hard experience and I'm of the opinion that a single large player having complete domination even if they also have technical superiority is something that probably should be broken up.

_wmd 8y ago

An alternative explanation might be that it's a buffer for overprovisioned GPUs for an undersold Cloud service

zarriak 8y ago
It could also be a way for AMD to get a ton of GPUs sold after oversupply due to the mining boom/bust.
- iandanforth 8y ago
  The GPUs are custom for Google.
  - puzzle 8y ago
    Do we know custom how? It might be the same chips with different microcode or whatever GPUs' equivalent is. Is it a custom spin like Intel has been doing for years for Google and Amazon?
wmf 8y ago
GCP uses Nvidia but Stadia uses AMD GPUs so they're not sharing hardware.

eanzenberg 8y ago

What you smoking foo? >>The entire reason this is happening is because Google has successfully captured what once was the holy grail of markets, education, and is doing things like this to keep people on chromebooks. Care to share how this tidbit is true? >>The most important thing to realize is that they are focusing on gamers as a trial, the people who are price sensitive and who have to move first off of Windows 7 since they can't pay for extended support even if they wanted it. They can then continue this into the workplace. This is a brilliant move by Google. What gamers are still on Win7? Most are already on 10. Most legit gamers care about input lag, which a streaming service will never solve vs. having hardware wired to your monitor. Most legit gamers use a wired mouse for gods sake because of input lag introduced to wireless mice.

stcredzero 8y ago
> doing things like this to keep people on chromebooks. Care to share how this tidbit is true? Lots of filthy casuals just care that they can game. If they can, somehow, why shouldn't they buy the Chromebook? Hell, if that's what they had in school, they might have grown up to like precisely the genres of games that are easy to design around the lag. Most legit gamers care about input lag The majority of people don't notice < 40ms round trip lag, though "legit gamers" often do notice. < 30ms, round trip lag, and few people outside of hardcore FPS players will notice. Get to < 20ms, and you get down to rounding error levels. Don't just ask me. (Hobbyist game dev.) Ask gamedevs and companies who have conducted testing. 40ms roundtrip lag for most of the world seems pretty achievable to me.
- iknowstuff 8y ago
  > ping google.com Pinging google.com [172.217.5.110] with 32 bytes of data: Reply from 172.217.5.110: bytes=32 time=6ms TTL=50 Reply from 172.217.5.110: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=50 Reply from 172.217.5.110: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=50 Reply from 172.217.5.110: bytes=32 time=10ms TTL=50 Ping statistics for google.com: Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss), Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds: Minimum = 6ms, Maximum = 10ms, Average = 8ms https://imgur.com/a/eLWFUg3 https://imgur.com/a/eLWFUg3 I'm on GDC public WiFi.