6 ms·

Google’s Chromebooks Rule Schools as IDC Pegs Them as Top Sellers in K-12

82 points by sidcool 12y ago

jokoon 12y ago
Can you put a C++ compiler or an C++ IDE on that thing ?
- dagw 12y ago
  Not officially. But I've heard of people who've managed to cross compile and install gcc on Chrome OS in developer mode. Otherwise you can simply install Linux.
  - jokoon 12y ago
    any badly supported drivers ?
    - dagw 12y ago
      Like so many other things it depends on the particular hardware, but basically most will work with a bit of hacking. The Arch Linux wiki is probably the most up to date source of instructions and workaround. A third option is to use crouton to install and run Linux in a chroot under Chrome OS
    - sethrin 12y ago
      +1 what dagw said, also if you have a c720 like me, you will probably be interested in this: http://www.reddit.com/r/chrubuntu/comments/1rsxkd/list_of_fixes_for_xubuntu_1310_on_the_acer_c720/ http://www.reddit.com/r/chrubuntu/comments/1rsxkd/list_of_fi... The c720 touchpad drivers made it into the most recent (3.17) kernel, which is good, but with most distros this will require you to compile the kernel yourself. I've had issues both with a normal linux installation and crouton chroots; it's hard to recommend either option wholeheartedly. Generally my experience has led me to use cloud-based alternatives when I can; it's a nice experience to boot Chrome OS for the first time, sign in, and have all my Chrome apps, settings, and wallpaper available in at most a couple minutes. I can particularly recommend cloud9 as an IDE. Together with a VPS for my "real" linux work, I am becoming more accustomed to using Chrome OS exclusively.
- jessaustin 12y ago
  https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton
- bachmeier 12y ago
  I recommend crouton. It's dead simple and everything just works (at least that's my experience). I regularly run emacs and compile D programs with mine. I think it's better to get an Intel Chromebook. Otherwise you're limited to programs that run on ARM.
- calgoo 12y ago
  you can always try cloud9... I was playing with it on my wifes Chromebook the other day, and not to bad.
- SloopJon 12y ago
  I was pleasantly surprised to find that our company's product, an enterprise DBMS, works under crouton with a Toshiba Chromebook 2. I can get to the web administration page from the Chrome OS side, but I'm not sure how to get to it with a terminal. I guess I need to run an SSH server in the chroot? Main issue, obviously, is space, since everything is on the 16 GB internal storage. Haven't tried installing to SD or USB yet. Also, it's slightly inconvenient that developer mode (a prerequisite for using crouton) interrupts the boot process, requiring you to press Ctrl-D to continue.
blackoil 12y ago
MS should release a WinRT for x86 devices, same security as chromebook and tons of apps. Also believing that it is a new OS and WIndows marketshare in post PC devices, shouldn't get any trouble with govt for monopoly abuse.
- Maakuth 12y ago
  In what world does WinRT have a ton of apps? Most of the Windows Store apps are of quite questionable quality, and the selection isn't good either.
  - ahstilde 12y ago
    It also doesn't help that no Google apps are officially supported on the Windows store. Casual users want their Youtube and Gmail! Their lack of existence (and the dearth of other apps) stopped people from adopting the platform.
- jbigelow76 12y ago
  MS isn't bothering trying to force RT down anyone's throats anymore. MS is working with HP and Toshiba to release hardware at a price point that competes with Chromebooks. http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/29/hp-plunges-downmarket-with-a-99-windows-tablet-199-windows-notebook/ http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/29/hp-plunges-downmarket-with-...
fpp 12y ago
Just completed some work with a large higher education client. There seems to be a real battle forming in education between Google and Microsoft. On one side the institutions cash strapped from years of government under-investment into education and with lots of their infrastructures long beyond end-of-life. On the other, large software vendors that - like with FMCG - want to create their products from childhood onward as everyday items that every child knows (and will continue to buy for the rest of their lives). Within higher education, at least in the UK, Microsoft seems to be winning in the moment. You have only a (very) small set of universities that are providing Google apps etc to their students. With HW - BYOD and that latest every second year student now has her own computer(s)has most likely helped a few of the universities to stay more easily afloat. Microsoft at the same time has managed to win over more than 60% of all universities in the UK (to use Office 365). One reason for that might also be that those universities that tried to provide Google Apps 1-2 years ago to their students mostly had rather negative experiences & many issues with the "roll-outs". But an even more important reason is the continuous dominance of MS Office in the business world - full proficiency with MS Office does still sound much better on a CV than having used Google Apps for 4 years. This is now intensifying with Microsoft providing MS Office for free directly to all students (including K12) latest from next month on. They have last week started to give free access to their mobile (iPad, Android - tablet solution soon arriving) versions and those are now leading the download charts of all app stores. BTW - real world stats show that about 2/3 students use MS Office on at least 2 devices (laptop plus 1-3 mobile). And the battle for the education infrastructures (storage space, business compute, thin clients - higher edu is one key client for that market) is also intensifying with MS now getting more aggressive with their virtualised desktop solution offerings (see also IE as a service). If Google wants to regain some ground here it needs to provide more turn-key solutions in the infrastructure area. With day-to-day web based and virtualised application infrastructure, the OS becomes more and more secondary for typical end users (HPC / scientific computing / design & engineering are completely different ballgames and dominated by Apple machines on one side and linux / unix clusters for the other use cases). When most mass use and productivity apps can be delivered to almost every machine including Chromebooks in those ways, the end user OS has fully become a commodity and decisions are / can be made mainly by the price / cost only. At that point Chromebooks (together e.g. with NUCs today, US$100 sticks to plug into monitors running Win8/10 / ChromeOS tomorrow) might become the cheapest option with all the consequences for the manufacturers (small margins, scale needed, etc).
sireat 12y ago
My only knock against Chromebook is that Skype is not supported. For many casual users Skype is still a requirement. Supposedly there is a way to install Skype for Android on a Chromebook (http://www.pcworld.com/article/2686712/run-any-android-app-on-your-chromebook-with-this-hack.html http://www.pcworld.com/article/2686712/run-any-android-app-o...) but Skype app did not load properly for me. I ended up making a dual boot with Lubuntu on it just for Skype. Otherwise a Chromebook is pretty much sufficient for casual users(my mother-in- law etc).
- netcan 12y ago
  This comes to mind: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000020.html http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000020.html "what happens is that they give their program to a journalist to review, and the journalist reviews it by writing their review using the new word processor, and then the journalist tries to find the "word count" feature which they need because most journalists have precise word count requirements, and it's not there, because it's in the "80% that nobody uses," and the journalist ends up writing a story that attempts to claim simultaneously that lite programs are good, bloat is bad, and I can't use this damn thing 'cause it won't count my words."
- on_and_off 12y ago
  I have switched to Hangouts instead. It only misses interoperability with similar services like Skype (one can dream).
  - ahstilde 12y ago
    Skype and Hangouts have both proven to be difficult to use for me and my girlfriend in our long-term relationship. Given a steady internet connection, Hangouts is the preference, as I have found it drains the battery and other performance less. However, Skype seems to be better if there are weaknesses in the connection.
- sethrin 12y ago
  I was able to install and use Skype on Chrome OS but the webcam didn't work. It is a major downside for me as well. I've noticed a couple other issues, namely that rtfs aren't supported well (you must upload them to Docs, you can't just open them), and password-protected excel files cannot be opened in either Google Docs or Microsoft Office Online. You can open them in LibreOffice using rollapp.com, however. Also, as a minor complication, the touchpad drivers for the Acer C720 (and possibly other devices) only made it into the kernel with version 3.17; with most distributions this will require you to compile the kernel yourself. Finally, if I am allowed to pick at nits, then I would say that I dislike the Chrome OS partitioning scheme. There is an ARChon-ready version of Skype on Github, which may or may not work for you.[0] [0] https://github.com/sebdroid/skype-chromeos https://github.com/sebdroid/skype-chromeos
netcan 12y ago
I have something in between an observation and a theory about chromebooks, though I'm not entirely sure about it. First, I think there's still a big whole in home computing. Windows laptops are a bundle of compromises that doesn't serve the average home user all that well. Chromebooks are an appealing concept. OTOH, the praise of chromebooks since the start always seems to be "these are cool, they would be great for X" where X is your theoretical aunt, nephew or neighbor. Enthusiasts also like them as a "2nd machine." At the same time, while they continue to sell well I see very little of Chrome OS traffic in web analytics. When the iphone first went on sale, the traffic ramped up immediately. Android web traffic lagged behind sales a lot more and the build up took longer, but it was still obvious. Public data seems to be generally similar. I don't know how far to take conclusions from that. I realize that certain sites do experience significant Chrome OS traffic, especially US education focuses sites. But, for most of the web, Chrome OS seems to be fighting to get to the middle of the "other" category, with SymbianOS and Playstation as rivals. I think Chrome OS is awesome, but still not done. Some sort of a merger with android, some rejigging of the apps and the basic metaphors might be an improvement. I know for my part I'd like to get my Dad one, but it doesn't run Skype so...
- ZeroGravitas 12y ago
  Skype team blog co-announced Microsoft's intention to support WebRTC, so it shouldn't be that long till it has support. Also, they've already announced the ability to run Android apps on ChromeOS (and Android now has Chrome as it's main browser). So some sort of merger has already happened (if you don't count both using linux + wekbit/blink + Google accounts & apps as enough of a merger already. I think it's also weird to have "ChromeOS" as a seperate category in web stats. It's basically Chrome, which the stats will tell you is doing just fine, both on mobile and desktop.
- jdeibele 12y ago
  Anecdotally: My 12-year-old daughter uses her phone to text friends and her Android tablet (Nook running Cyanogenmod) to read books from the library in the Kindle app. She's constantly dragging around a Chromebook because "it has better speakers" and the folding screen doesn't need to be held to show YouTube videos. The 10-year-old daughter (not old enough for a phone (for us), reads paper books) drags around another Chromebook for YouTube and writing. The 8-year-old son uses a Kindle Fire tablet to play games and read books we've bought. We replaced the iMac in the kitchen with a Chromebox and that's been hugely popular. The old iMac was six years old and very slow. My 10-year-old has had some trouble at her school because they use MS Office and she's not used to having to save her changes. She's written 6730 words in her story for English class since the start of November in Google Docs and we transfer it onto a flash drive so she can take it to school. My wife and I have MacBook Airs but I would find it tempting to replace mine with a new Toshiba Chromebook (1920x1080 IPS screen for $330) if my MacBook died today. I'd like shell access without necessarily needing root access. Trying shell access meant flipping a switch on the Chromebooks that brought up a scary warning every time I opened the lid. This was a couple of years ago and I hope things have progressed.
jfuhrman 12y ago
I hope the schools are aware of the privacy implications for students, who are essentially captive because they'd have to change universities to avoid being tracked and are very susceptible to advertising. From http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/03/13/26google.h33.html http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/03/13/26google.h33.ht... "As part of a potentially explosive lawsuit making its way through federal court, the giant online-services provider Google has acknowledged scanning the contents of millions of email messages sent and received by student users of the company’s Apps for Education tool suite for schools. In the suit, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company also faces accusations from plaintiffs that it went further, crossing a “creepy line” by using information gleaned from the scans to build “surreptitious” profiles of Apps for Education users that could be used for such purposes as targeted advertising." "A Google spokeswoman confirmed to Education Week that the company “scans and indexes” the emails of all Apps for Education users for a variety of purposes, including potential advertising, via automated processes that cannot be turned off—even for Apps for Education customers who elect not to receive ads. The company would not say whether those email scans are used to help build profiles of students or other Apps for Education users, but said the results of its data mining are not used to actually target ads to Apps for Education users unless they choose to receive them." ... "Student-data-privacy experts contend that the latter claim is contradicted by Google’s own court filings in the California suit. They describe the case as highly troubling and likely to further inflame rising national concern that protection of children’s private educational information is too lax." "Mr. Thiele said his district has used Google Apps for Education since 2008. Officials there have always been aware that the company does “back-end processing” of students’ email messages, he said, but the district’s agreement with Google precludes such data from being used to serve ads to students or staff members. As long as the company abides by those terms, Mr. Thiele said, “I don’t have any problem with it.” In an emailed statement provided to Education Week, Bram Bout, the director of Google Apps for Education, said that “ads in Gmail are turned off by default for Google Apps for Education and we have no plans to change that in the future.”" ... "Those plaintiffs in the California lawsuit allege that Google treats Google Apps for Education email users virtually the same as it treats consumer Gmail users. That means not only mining students’ email messages for key words and other information, but also using resulting data—including newly created derivative information, or “metadata”—for “secret user profiling” that could serve as the basis for such activities as delivering targeted ads in Google products other than Apps for Education, such as Google Search, Google+, and YouTube." "The plaintiffs allege that Google has employed such practices since around 2010, when it began using a new technology, known as Content Onebox, that allows the company to intercept and scan emails before they reach their intended recipients, rather than after messages are delivered to users’ inboxes, regardless of whether ads are turned off." "While the allegations by the plaintiffs are explosive, it’s the sworn declarations of Google representatives in response to their claims that have truly raised the eyebrows of observers and privacy experts. Contrary to the company’s earlier public statements, Google representatives acknowledged in a September motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ request for class certification that the company’s consumer-privacy policy applies to Apps for Education users. Thus, Google argues, it has students’ (and other Apps for Education users’) consent to scan and process their emails." "In November, Kyle C. Wong, a lawyer representing Google, also argued in a formal declaration submitted to the court in opposition to the plaintiffs’ motion for class certification that the company’s data-mining practices are widely known, and that the plaintiffs’ complaints that the scanning and processing of their emails was done secretly are thus invalid. Mr. Wong cited extensive media coverage about Google’s data mining of Gmail consumer users’ >Mr. Wong’s inclusion of the following reference to the disclosure provided to students at the University of Alaska particularly caught the attention of privacy advocates: The University of Alaska (“UA”) has a “Google Mail FAQs,” which asks, “I hear that Google reads my email. Is this true?” The answer states, “They do not ‘read’ your email per se. For use in targeted advertising on their other sites, if your email is not encrypted, software (not a person) does scan your email and compile keywords for advertising. For example, if the software looks at 100 emails and identifies the word ‘Doritos’ or ‘camping’ 50 times, they will use that data for advertising on their other sites.” “The fact that Google put this in their declaration means we take it as true,” said Ms. Barnes of the privacy watchdog group EPIC. Google’s sworn court statements reveal that the company has violated student trust by using students’ education records for profit.” From a Google filing in court about Gmail privacy: >Indeed, “a person has no legitimate expectation of privacy in information he voluntarily turns over to third parties.” Smith v. Maryland, 442 U.S. 735, 743-44 (1979). >it's "inconceivable" that someone using a Gmail account would not be aware that the information in their email would be known to Google.
threeseed 12y ago
Subsidised, cheap laptops sell well in schools. Amazing.
- seanflyon 12y ago
  Subsidized?
  - wutbrodo 12y ago
    I assume he means subsidized by the value that Google is getting out of the sales other than the purchase price (because it increases Chrome usage which increases Search usage). I suppose he's not technically wrong (even if it's an indirect subsidy) but it's a bizarre usage of the term and it could apply to a LOT of device vendors.
    - jackalope 12y ago
      I think it's fair to say that if your kid comes home with a ChromeBook that you didn't purchase, it's being subsidized somewhere. My local high school just issued them to all freshmen. What I find a bit odd is that if there is any paperwork involved, it's not "Do you give us permission to lend a laptop to your child?", it's "Your child must sign this pledge not to abuse this device." I support the program, but the responsibility goes two ways, and I expect the school district to advocate student privacy over the lure of "free stuff."
      - eitally 12y ago
        I don't think Google is giving them away (at least not in the US). This would have been funded by the school district. In my area (North Carolina), some have chosen Windows, some tried Ipads, and some are using Chromebooks. Generally peaking ,the ipads fair the worst and the trend is moving in favor of Chromebooks. Even if the hardware is free, there is still the need for an administration license, too.
igravious 12y ago
"IDC’s new figures for tablets and laptop sales in K-12 education finds that Chromebooks as a category constitute the best-selling device across the entire category in 2014" So, what are the figures?
aabajian 12y ago
I purchased the Dell Chromebook from Dell's education website. It's a slick looking device that was quite reasonably priced. I find it to be much more useful than my Nexus 7 or my iPad 2.
- ronilan 12y ago
  Chromebook is like the flipside of that Ballmer quote[1]: "that is the cheapest computer in the world and it appeals to everyone because it even has a keyboard" [1] http://youtu.be/eywi0h_Y5_U http://youtu.be/eywi0h_Y5_U
  - alexbecker 12y ago
    That's some video quality.
xorcist 12y ago
I bought a Samsung Chromebook for travelling. Turns out that they're very capable. With Crouton I basically get a bare bones Linux laptop. I ended up using it all the time.
- atmosx 12y ago
  True. And for browsing only, or web-services chromebook (the OS) is as good and fast as it gets!

82 points by sidcool 12y ago

jokoon 12y ago

Can you put a C++ compiler or an C++ IDE on that thing ?

dagw 12y ago
Not officially. But I've heard of people who've managed to cross compile and install gcc on Chrome OS in developer mode. Otherwise you can simply install Linux.
- jokoon 12y ago
  any badly supported drivers ?
  - dagw 12y ago
    Like so many other things it depends on the particular hardware, but basically most will work with a bit of hacking. The Arch Linux wiki is probably the most up to date source of instructions and workaround. A third option is to use crouton to install and run Linux in a chroot under Chrome OS
  - sethrin 12y ago
    +1 what dagw said, also if you have a c720 like me, you will probably be interested in this: http://www.reddit.com/r/chrubuntu/comments/1rsxkd/list_of_fixes_for_xubuntu_1310_on_the_acer_c720/ http://www.reddit.com/r/chrubuntu/comments/1rsxkd/list_of_fi... The c720 touchpad drivers made it into the most recent (3.17) kernel, which is good, but with most distros this will require you to compile the kernel yourself. I've had issues both with a normal linux installation and crouton chroots; it's hard to recommend either option wholeheartedly. Generally my experience has led me to use cloud-based alternatives when I can; it's a nice experience to boot Chrome OS for the first time, sign in, and have all my Chrome apps, settings, and wallpaper available in at most a couple minutes. I can particularly recommend cloud9 as an IDE. Together with a VPS for my "real" linux work, I am becoming more accustomed to using Chrome OS exclusively.
jessaustin 12y ago
https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton
bachmeier 12y ago
I recommend crouton. It's dead simple and everything just works (at least that's my experience). I regularly run emacs and compile D programs with mine. I think it's better to get an Intel Chromebook. Otherwise you're limited to programs that run on ARM.
calgoo 12y ago
you can always try cloud9... I was playing with it on my wifes Chromebook the other day, and not to bad.
SloopJon 12y ago
I was pleasantly surprised to find that our company's product, an enterprise DBMS, works under crouton with a Toshiba Chromebook 2. I can get to the web administration page from the Chrome OS side, but I'm not sure how to get to it with a terminal. I guess I need to run an SSH server in the chroot? Main issue, obviously, is space, since everything is on the 16 GB internal storage. Haven't tried installing to SD or USB yet. Also, it's slightly inconvenient that developer mode (a prerequisite for using crouton) interrupts the boot process, requiring you to press Ctrl-D to continue.

blackoil 12y ago

MS should release a WinRT for x86 devices, same security as chromebook and tons of apps. Also believing that it is a new OS and WIndows marketshare in post PC devices, shouldn't get any trouble with govt for monopoly abuse.

Maakuth 12y ago
In what world does WinRT have a ton of apps? Most of the Windows Store apps are of quite questionable quality, and the selection isn't good either.
- ahstilde 12y ago
  It also doesn't help that no Google apps are officially supported on the Windows store. Casual users want their Youtube and Gmail! Their lack of existence (and the dearth of other apps) stopped people from adopting the platform.
jbigelow76 12y ago
MS isn't bothering trying to force RT down anyone's throats anymore. MS is working with HP and Toshiba to release hardware at a price point that competes with Chromebooks. http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/29/hp-plunges-downmarket-with-a-99-windows-tablet-199-windows-notebook/ http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/29/hp-plunges-downmarket-with-...

fpp 12y ago

Just completed some work with a large higher education client. There seems to be a real battle forming in education between Google and Microsoft. On one side the institutions cash strapped from years of government under-investment into education and with lots of their infrastructures long beyond end-of-life. On the other, large software vendors that - like with FMCG - want to create their products from childhood onward as everyday items that every child knows (and will continue to buy for the rest of their lives). Within higher education, at least in the UK, Microsoft seems to be winning in the moment. You have only a (very) small set of universities that are providing Google apps etc to their students. With HW - BYOD and that latest every second year student now has her own computer(s)has most likely helped a few of the universities to stay more easily afloat. Microsoft at the same time has managed to win over more than 60% of all universities in the UK (to use Office 365). One reason for that might also be that those universities that tried to provide Google Apps 1-2 years ago to their students mostly had rather negative experiences & many issues with the "roll-outs". But an even more important reason is the continuous dominance of MS Office in the business world - full proficiency with MS Office does still sound much better on a CV than having used Google Apps for 4 years. This is now intensifying with Microsoft providing MS Office for free directly to all students (including K12) latest from next month on. They have last week started to give free access to their mobile (iPad, Android - tablet solution soon arriving) versions and those are now leading the download charts of all app stores. BTW - real world stats show that about 2/3 students use MS Office on at least 2 devices (laptop plus 1-3 mobile). And the battle for the education infrastructures (storage space, business compute, thin clients - higher edu is one key client for that market) is also intensifying with MS now getting more aggressive with their virtualised desktop solution offerings (see also IE as a service). If Google wants to regain some ground here it needs to provide more turn-key solutions in the infrastructure area. With day-to-day web based and virtualised application infrastructure, the OS becomes more and more secondary for typical end users (HPC / scientific computing / design & engineering are completely different ballgames and dominated by Apple machines on one side and linux / unix clusters for the other use cases). When most mass use and productivity apps can be delivered to almost every machine including Chromebooks in those ways, the end user OS has fully become a commodity and decisions are / can be made mainly by the price / cost only. At that point Chromebooks (together e.g. with NUCs today, US$100 sticks to plug into monitors running Win8/10 / ChromeOS tomorrow) might become the cheapest option with all the consequences for the manufacturers (small margins, scale needed, etc).

sireat 12y ago

My only knock against Chromebook is that Skype is not supported. For many casual users Skype is still a requirement. Supposedly there is a way to install Skype for Android on a Chromebook (http://www.pcworld.com/article/2686712/run-any-android-app-on-your-chromebook-with-this-hack.html http://www.pcworld.com/article/2686712/run-any-android-app-o...) but Skype app did not load properly for me. I ended up making a dual boot with Lubuntu on it just for Skype. Otherwise a Chromebook is pretty much sufficient for casual users(my mother-in- law etc).

netcan 12y ago
This comes to mind: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000020.html http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000020.html "what happens is that they give their program to a journalist to review, and the journalist reviews it by writing their review using the new word processor, and then the journalist tries to find the "word count" feature which they need because most journalists have precise word count requirements, and it's not there, because it's in the "80% that nobody uses," and the journalist ends up writing a story that attempts to claim simultaneously that lite programs are good, bloat is bad, and I can't use this damn thing 'cause it won't count my words."
on_and_off 12y ago
I have switched to Hangouts instead. It only misses interoperability with similar services like Skype (one can dream).
- ahstilde 12y ago
  Skype and Hangouts have both proven to be difficult to use for me and my girlfriend in our long-term relationship. Given a steady internet connection, Hangouts is the preference, as I have found it drains the battery and other performance less. However, Skype seems to be better if there are weaknesses in the connection.
sethrin 12y ago
I was able to install and use Skype on Chrome OS but the webcam didn't work. It is a major downside for me as well. I've noticed a couple other issues, namely that rtfs aren't supported well (you must upload them to Docs, you can't just open them), and password-protected excel files cannot be opened in either Google Docs or Microsoft Office Online. You can open them in LibreOffice using rollapp.com, however. Also, as a minor complication, the touchpad drivers for the Acer C720 (and possibly other devices) only made it into the kernel with version 3.17; with most distributions this will require you to compile the kernel yourself. Finally, if I am allowed to pick at nits, then I would say that I dislike the Chrome OS partitioning scheme. There is an ARChon-ready version of Skype on Github, which may or may not work for you.[0] [0] https://github.com/sebdroid/skype-chromeos https://github.com/sebdroid/skype-chromeos

netcan 12y ago

I have something in between an observation and a theory about chromebooks, though I'm not entirely sure about it. First, I think there's still a big whole in home computing. Windows laptops are a bundle of compromises that doesn't serve the average home user all that well. Chromebooks are an appealing concept. OTOH, the praise of chromebooks since the start always seems to be "these are cool, they would be great for X" where X is your theoretical aunt, nephew or neighbor. Enthusiasts also like them as a "2nd machine." At the same time, while they continue to sell well I see very little of Chrome OS traffic in web analytics. When the iphone first went on sale, the traffic ramped up immediately. Android web traffic lagged behind sales a lot more and the build up took longer, but it was still obvious. Public data seems to be generally similar. I don't know how far to take conclusions from that. I realize that certain sites do experience significant Chrome OS traffic, especially US education focuses sites. But, for most of the web, Chrome OS seems to be fighting to get to the middle of the "other" category, with SymbianOS and Playstation as rivals. I think Chrome OS is awesome, but still not done. Some sort of a merger with android, some rejigging of the apps and the basic metaphors might be an improvement. I know for my part I'd like to get my Dad one, but it doesn't run Skype so...

ZeroGravitas 12y ago
Skype team blog co-announced Microsoft's intention to support WebRTC, so it shouldn't be that long till it has support. Also, they've already announced the ability to run Android apps on ChromeOS (and Android now has Chrome as it's main browser). So some sort of merger has already happened (if you don't count both using linux + wekbit/blink + Google accounts & apps as enough of a merger already. I think it's also weird to have "ChromeOS" as a seperate category in web stats. It's basically Chrome, which the stats will tell you is doing just fine, both on mobile and desktop.
jdeibele 12y ago
Anecdotally: My 12-year-old daughter uses her phone to text friends and her Android tablet (Nook running Cyanogenmod) to read books from the library in the Kindle app. She's constantly dragging around a Chromebook because "it has better speakers" and the folding screen doesn't need to be held to show YouTube videos. The 10-year-old daughter (not old enough for a phone (for us), reads paper books) drags around another Chromebook for YouTube and writing. The 8-year-old son uses a Kindle Fire tablet to play games and read books we've bought. We replaced the iMac in the kitchen with a Chromebox and that's been hugely popular. The old iMac was six years old and very slow. My 10-year-old has had some trouble at her school because they use MS Office and she's not used to having to save her changes. She's written 6730 words in her story for English class since the start of November in Google Docs and we transfer it onto a flash drive so she can take it to school. My wife and I have MacBook Airs but I would find it tempting to replace mine with a new Toshiba Chromebook (1920x1080 IPS screen for $330) if my MacBook died today. I'd like shell access without necessarily needing root access. Trying shell access meant flipping a switch on the Chromebooks that brought up a scary warning every time I opened the lid. This was a couple of years ago and I hope things have progressed.

jfuhrman 12y ago

I hope the schools are aware of the privacy implications for students, who are essentially captive because they'd have to change universities to avoid being tracked and are very susceptible to advertising. From http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/03/13/26google.h33.html http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/03/13/26google.h33.ht... "As part of a potentially explosive lawsuit making its way through federal court, the giant online-services provider Google has acknowledged scanning the contents of millions of email messages sent and received by student users of the company’s Apps for Education tool suite for schools. In the suit, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company also faces accusations from plaintiffs that it went further, crossing a “creepy line” by using information gleaned from the scans to build “surreptitious” profiles of Apps for Education users that could be used for such purposes as targeted advertising." "A Google spokeswoman confirmed to Education Week that the company “scans and indexes” the emails of all Apps for Education users for a variety of purposes, including potential advertising, via automated processes that cannot be turned off—even for Apps for Education customers who elect not to receive ads. The company would not say whether those email scans are used to help build profiles of students or other Apps for Education users, but said the results of its data mining are not used to actually target ads to Apps for Education users unless they choose to receive them." ... "Student-data-privacy experts contend that the latter claim is contradicted by Google’s own court filings in the California suit. They describe the case as highly troubling and likely to further inflame rising national concern that protection of children’s private educational information is too lax." "Mr. Thiele said his district has used Google Apps for Education since 2008. Officials there have always been aware that the company does “back-end processing” of students’ email messages, he said, but the district’s agreement with Google precludes such data from being used to serve ads to students or staff members. As long as the company abides by those terms, Mr. Thiele said, “I don’t have any problem with it.” In an emailed statement provided to Education Week, Bram Bout, the director of Google Apps for Education, said that “ads in Gmail are turned off by default for Google Apps for Education and we have no plans to change that in the future.”" ... "Those plaintiffs in the California lawsuit allege that Google treats Google Apps for Education email users virtually the same as it treats consumer Gmail users. That means not only mining students’ email messages for key words and other information, but also using resulting data—including newly created derivative information, or “metadata”—for “secret user profiling” that could serve as the basis for such activities as delivering targeted ads in Google products other than Apps for Education, such as Google Search, Google+, and YouTube." "The plaintiffs allege that Google has employed such practices since around 2010, when it began using a new technology, known as Content Onebox, that allows the company to intercept and scan emails before they reach their intended recipients, rather than after messages are delivered to users’ inboxes, regardless of whether ads are turned off." "While the allegations by the plaintiffs are explosive, it’s the sworn declarations of Google representatives in response to their claims that have truly raised the eyebrows of observers and privacy experts. Contrary to the company’s earlier public statements, Google representatives acknowledged in a September motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ request for class certification that the company’s consumer-privacy policy applies to Apps for Education users. Thus, Google argues, it has students’ (and other Apps for Education users’) consent to scan and process their emails." "In November, Kyle C. Wong, a lawyer representing Google, also argued in a formal declaration submitted to the court in opposition to the plaintiffs’ motion for class certification that the company’s data-mining practices are widely known, and that the plaintiffs’ complaints that the scanning and processing of their emails was done secretly are thus invalid. Mr. Wong cited extensive media coverage about Google’s data mining of Gmail consumer users’ >Mr. Wong’s inclusion of the following reference to the disclosure provided to students at the University of Alaska particularly caught the attention of privacy advocates: The University of Alaska (“UA”) has a “Google Mail FAQs,” which asks, “I hear that Google reads my email. Is this true?” The answer states, “They do not ‘read’ your email per se. For use in targeted advertising on their other sites, if your email is not encrypted, software (not a person) does scan your email and compile keywords for advertising. For example, if the software looks at 100 emails and identifies the word ‘Doritos’ or ‘camping’ 50 times, they will use that data for advertising on their other sites.” “The fact that Google put this in their declaration means we take it as true,” said Ms. Barnes of the privacy watchdog group EPIC. Google’s sworn court statements reveal that the company has violated student trust by using students’ education records for profit.” From a Google filing in court about Gmail privacy: >Indeed, “a person has no legitimate expectation of privacy in information he voluntarily turns over to third parties.” Smith v. Maryland, 442 U.S. 735, 743-44 (1979). >it's "inconceivable" that someone using a Gmail account would not be aware that the information in their email would be known to Google.

threeseed 12y ago

Subsidised, cheap laptops sell well in schools. Amazing.

seanflyon 12y ago
Subsidized?
- wutbrodo 12y ago
  I assume he means subsidized by the value that Google is getting out of the sales other than the purchase price (because it increases Chrome usage which increases Search usage). I suppose he's not technically wrong (even if it's an indirect subsidy) but it's a bizarre usage of the term and it could apply to a LOT of device vendors.
  - jackalope 12y ago
    I think it's fair to say that if your kid comes home with a ChromeBook that you didn't purchase, it's being subsidized somewhere. My local high school just issued them to all freshmen. What I find a bit odd is that if there is any paperwork involved, it's not "Do you give us permission to lend a laptop to your child?", it's "Your child must sign this pledge not to abuse this device." I support the program, but the responsibility goes two ways, and I expect the school district to advocate student privacy over the lure of "free stuff."
    - eitally 12y ago
      I don't think Google is giving them away (at least not in the US). This would have been funded by the school district. In my area (North Carolina), some have chosen Windows, some tried Ipads, and some are using Chromebooks. Generally peaking ,the ipads fair the worst and the trend is moving in favor of Chromebooks. Even if the hardware is free, there is still the need for an administration license, too.

igravious 12y ago

"IDC’s new figures for tablets and laptop sales in K-12 education finds that Chromebooks as a category constitute the best-selling device across the entire category in 2014" So, what are the figures?

aabajian 12y ago

I purchased the Dell Chromebook from Dell's education website. It's a slick looking device that was quite reasonably priced. I find it to be much more useful than my Nexus 7 or my iPad 2.

ronilan 12y ago
Chromebook is like the flipside of that Ballmer quote[1]: "that is the cheapest computer in the world and it appeals to everyone because it even has a keyboard" [1] http://youtu.be/eywi0h_Y5_U http://youtu.be/eywi0h_Y5_U
- alexbecker 12y ago
  That's some video quality.

xorcist 12y ago

I bought a Samsung Chromebook for travelling. Turns out that they're very capable. With Crouton I basically get a bare bones Linux laptop. I ended up using it all the time.

atmosx 12y ago
True. And for browsing only, or web-services chromebook (the OS) is as good and fast as it gets!