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That is my point. For the theoretical $200 impulse buy EeePc, that $50 would have been a deal breaker. Armchair strategising would have led you to that conclusi
by netsp 17y ago
That is my point. For the theoretical $200 impulse buy EeePc, that $50 would have been a deal breaker. Armchair strategising would have led you to that conclusion. An OS that lowered costs by that much would have been an obvious choice. That's why they originally launched on Linux.
But over time, the specs drifted up. Consumers preferred XP. They were willing to pay for it. I don't know what the median price is, but I'm guessing around $400-$500. In other words, the market has moved towards Windows. Windows has also moved towards netbooks.
Google OS could have been the default choice for netbook manufacturers at the time when there were petitions going to keep XP alive. When this launches (2010?), Windows 7 netbooks will be the default choice.
That doesn't mean this won't work. maybe people will prefer Chrome OS to Windows 7 for netbooks. Maybe it will enable $200 netbooks, almost a distinct class. If that's the case, they still need to go through the market test. Do a lot of people really want a $200 netbook?
- swolchok 17y agoNetbook acceptability checklist: 1) Runs a web browser 2) Has k hours of battery life 3) Has "big enough" screen and keyboard These things don't compete on features, they compete on binary "good enough" and price. They're practically commodities, which is why the industry doesn't like them -- ECON 101 rules about efficiency apply. Of course, you can still decorate the case to differentiate on fashion.
- pasbesoin 17y agoAdd on: + I don't have to maintain it. (Anti-malware, etc.) + Comes with the applications I want. (Wherever they are hosted -- local or on the net.) Chrome might make the netbook into an (true) appliance. A lot of people would like that. I think the killer feature for Google may be manipulable audio-visual. The ability to insert and control advertising in A/V media. There's a reason they continue to pour money into YouTube.
- netsp 17y agoI disagree. If that were the case prices would have gone down, not up. Since netbooks surfaced there has been feature creep and price creep.