3 ms·

But most people don't need anything else! I'd even go as far as saying that ChromeOS is a better "granny OS" than your stock Ubuntu...

• tluyben2 13y ago
  Yeah for what I have seen with the users he describes, the $249 samsung chromebook is almost perfect. I would say it needs a touchscreen (I remember my grandfather trying to push on the screen 30 years ago when I showed him something with a button), but further it falls in the price range of almost everyone, it's always backed up, secure, simple. No worries about anything; just sending mails, browsing and writing the occasional text if needed. The problem of not having internet around is also no issue; these kind of users use their computers maybe a few times / week which at which point, at least here in the village, they go to the local bar and use their wifi.
• mikeryan 13y ago
  Look I may have been snide but I totally reject the entire premise that a "Granny proof" OS is a terminal locked down to three main apps. Heck the whole article goes through pains to say "Granny isn't stupid" but they only need a browser. I mean at this point why give them skype and email when they can use webmail and Skype via a browser? (requires Outlook.com so your mail is there to) Granny proof to me is an OS where my granny can easily install their damn solitaire or scrabble games without too much hassle. They can get around to their downloaded images, create a gallery and maybe edit a Word Doc or excel spreadsheet. Its not some mythical strawman dummy user who really just needs an iPad. Right now an iPad is more powerful and usable device for a less tech savvy user then this stripped down - non-existant Linux distro.
• betterunix 13y ago
  "most people don't need anything else" It may seem that way, but the average person is not so hopeless. Most people do not know what their computers can do for them other than a web browser. If, however, you take the time to show them, you might be surprised. My mother once thought that web browsing was computing. Then she got a digital camera and, out of necessity, learned how to scale down images (at that time, sending full-resolution images to people was infeasible). Eventually she learned that she could do more -- she could remove red-eye, switch people's heads, create various jokes that earned a lot of laughs on the job. Now she cannot imagine a computer that lacks photo editing software. One day recently she told me she wanted to get a TiVO and was asking for my advice. I said, "Why not just use the computer you have?" and I helped her set that up. MythTV was too complicated for her -- she is actually more comfortable using cron to schedule recordings. I wrote a small script for her to make recording a little easier, and occasionally have to help her with transcoding when she wants to watch a video on her Android tablet (but mostly she can do that herself). Already she has saved more money than the extra hardware cost, and while the process looks ugly and lacks a remote control, it works for her. Now, maybe my mother is exceptional, but I think you'll find that most people can do more with their computers than you expect if you bother to teach them or nudge them in the right direction. In the worst case, you might just have to write a few scripts and a simple UI if you are dealing with someone who is too intimated by a terminal. On the other hand, when you give someone the expedient solution that "just works" but that is based on the idea that they are too stupid to do anything, you trap them and prevent them from doing anything more.