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My mom likes her Skype :/ But that's because I have one brother in Spain and one traveling through Asia. She shouts: It's free! I like to point out that we p

by inerte 17y ago

My mom likes her Skype :/ But that's because I have one brother in Spain and one traveling through Asia. She shouts: It's free! I like to point out that we pay R$ 160,00 for internet access. In a direct comparison, it's free, but its so called costs are embedded as an added-value with all our internet (which she mainly uses for email and recipes). I have no idea why I typed so much of this personal tale when I was trying to say that as software developers, what matters is solving user's problems and needs, and Chrome OS, or rather a device which can only run web apps, doesn't do this. If all I wanted was a portable web browser I could buy one of the already available netbooks (wait, they do more than that) or use an iPhone (and make phone calls!) Yeah, yeah, Chrome's browser will be so much awesome that it'll make previously impossible web apps a reality. NOT! Besides, even if it does, as long as it relies on open standards for web development, there'll always be another device which can do whatever it does, plus more. Like running Skype.

wvenable 17y ago
Actually, my whole family uses Skype. It's a great way to show off the new baby to all the Australian relatives. I guess there's a reason why all the Hacker News posts were about Skype. What's really missing here is the true point of Chrome OS. It's not supposed to replace anyone's desktop. It's not even really supposed to replace someones perfectly good XP netbook. It's meant to be put on really cheap hardware. Super cheap. Subsidized by Google search referrals cheap. So cheap that you fully accept that it doesn't run skype or anything else.
- ZeroGravitas 17y ago
  It is supposed to replace XP netbooks, at least some of them. I know geeks have trouble with "less is more", particularly when we're talking about computers but, for ordinary mortals, XP is a mixed bag of benefits (running Skype and a thousand other native apps) and costs (running all sorts of malware, and various equally nasty bits of software to keep you safe from the malware). Anyone normal who's switched to a Mac from Windows, or put the money they would have spent on a netbook on an iPhone touch has made the similar tradeoffs. Less traditional PC apps but better at doing the things they care about.
riffic 17y ago
skype is not a big deal. This thing will probably work great with Google Talk, which is INTEROPERABLE with other xmpp clients running libjingle. I'll take that over skype.

by inerte 17y ago

wvenable 17y ago

Actually, my whole family uses Skype. It's a great way to show off the new baby to all the Australian relatives. I guess there's a reason why all the Hacker News posts were about Skype. What's really missing here is the true point of Chrome OS. It's not supposed to replace anyone's desktop. It's not even really supposed to replace someones perfectly good XP netbook. It's meant to be put on really cheap hardware. Super cheap. Subsidized by Google search referrals cheap. So cheap that you fully accept that it doesn't run skype or anything else.

ZeroGravitas 17y ago
It is supposed to replace XP netbooks, at least some of them. I know geeks have trouble with "less is more", particularly when we're talking about computers but, for ordinary mortals, XP is a mixed bag of benefits (running Skype and a thousand other native apps) and costs (running all sorts of malware, and various equally nasty bits of software to keep you safe from the malware). Anyone normal who's switched to a Mac from Windows, or put the money they would have spent on a netbook on an iPhone touch has made the similar tradeoffs. Less traditional PC apps but better at doing the things they care about.

riffic 17y ago

skype is not a big deal. This thing will probably work great with Google Talk, which is INTEROPERABLE with other xmpp clients running libjingle. I'll take that over skype.