Google Announces 'Chromebook' Laptops, No Word on Chrome-Based Tablets

[millerb7]

If they'd encouraged it, you wouldn't need to jailbreak the damn thing.

They mentioned this multiple times at Google I/O yesterday... they want you to do what you please.


But on another note... again, these aren't really aimed at normal consumer I don't feel... $350 for the acer one isn't a bad price... but still getting into other "actual OS-running netbook" prices.... but if you're renting... you have to do so for 36 months.

If you rent, you get all the google perks... if you buy outright, you have to depend on the manufacturer for the warranties etc.... not google.... I'm sure google would be better.

If you plan to buy one, or are even interested, I would DEF. wait for the 2nd or even 3rd iteration to see how things progress before buying outright... but $350 (for me at least) isn't bad... and again, I'm a nerdy geek... I have the CR48 right now... and I actually enjoy the web-based OS.

 

[G4R2]

There's definitely a market for this type of device- The same market that McDonald's sells hamburgers to.

I don't mean that as a criticism. This product will appeal to those who value cheapness over quality.

From a technological perspective, these devices seem to be netbook 2.0 but directed at a market segment that wouldn't purchase netbooks. Netbooks were appealing specifically to those who purchased them because they were able to run what those users considered to be desktop OS's, namely Windows and maybe Linux or Hackintosh. I don't know that Chrome OS would fill that criteria for those niche users.

The second, perhaps equally important criteria for the netbook was that they were compact. These units don't seem to be very compact.

So who is this device meant for? Maybe the same people that Microsoft targeted Windows CE devices at (many of which were way cooler than these offerings).

And contrary to what Google propaganda claims, Android isn't successful because it's "open" but rather because it's free. For a company that claims not to be "evil" why do they have to lie about this fact?

 

[tobyw7]

Better option: buy a cheap netbook or old laptop and run Joli OS

+1

These do not provide enough features. Buy a cheap laptop or netbook which will at least be fully functional.

 

[SilianRail]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8F190 Safari/6533.18.5)

The Acer laptop not having the god awful VGA port is an impressive feature that almost no non-Apple laptops have. Kudos.

The "hate" over this is incredibly immature. Something like this is perfect for Grandma. Nope, she's never going to learn to type full emails on an iPad. Forget the bluetooth keyboard and putting it on a stand. Not gonna happen. She won't have to worry about her retirement account getting cleaned out from clicking 1 naughty .exe or deal with tons of warning for harmless files. You guys need to understand most people dont need the complexity and expense of $1800 laptops.

 

[LegendKillerUK]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8F190 Safari/6533.18.5)

The Acer laptop not having the god awful VGA port is an impressive feature that almost no non-Apple laptops have. Kudos.

The "hate" over this is incredibly immature. Something like this is perfect for Grandma. Nope, she's never going to learn to type full emails on an iPad. Forget the bluetooth keyboard and putting it on a stand. Not gonna happen. She won't have to worry about her retirement account getting cleaned out from clicking 1 naughty .exe or deal with tons of warning for harmless files. You guys need to understand most people dont need the complexity and expense of $1800 laptops.

Where did you get $1800 from? A simple netbook that can do so much more is $400.

 

[fat phil]

With a Chromebook you won't wait minutes for your computer to boot and browser to start. You'll be reading your email in seconds.

*Rolls back cover on his iPad 2*
*Reads email*


Good to see Acer responding to the death of the netbook market by making laptops nobody needs. They're on the up now, watch out world!

 

[ciTiger]

The thing here is all about the battery I think since the boot time can already be optimized with an SSD and 60 GB are already more or less affordable...

If in the next MBA Apple somehow "doubles" the Airs battery these chrome laptops will be kinda unnecessary...

 

[fat phil]

Something like this is perfect for Grandma. Nope, she's never going to learn to type full emails on an iPad. .

And yet, it is exactly images of grandmas that convinced the rest of the world that the iPad was exactly perfect for grandma.

Also, The Queen is apparently ordering one. And she can't wrong!


Proof that iPads are made for Grandmas:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTzbdlnlXoo

 

[Malcolm.]

With a Chromebook you won't wait minutes for your computer to boot and browser to start.

Hahahaha. Neither of my computers take minutes to boot, because I actually know how to use and maintain my OS properly. My Thinkpad X120e boots from BIOS to fully-loaded desktop in 10 seconds with a solid-state drive. My desktop boots in about 28 seconds.

If you actually have to wait minutes for your computer to boot, you're doing it wrong. Reinstall your OS periodically and turn off unnecessary startup services.

Your personal information will be accessible by Google wherever you are and you won't need to worry about losing your computer or forgetting to back up files.

Fixed. Is anyone else not seeing Google's ulterior motives behind creating their own "cloud OS"? Data mining. They want your personal information so they can make money off ads. Come ON people, please tell me none of you are actually going to buy a Chrome netbook (or should I call it a "botnetbook"?)

 

[Elbon]

Nonsense

"With HTML5 and other open standards, web applications will soon be able to do anything traditional applications can do, and more."

FUD and propaganda. HTML 5 adds some nice features, but it still cannot compete with a native development platform.

I had been trying to figure out why Google has invested so much effort into what seems like a dead-end technology, but now I understand:

"Monthly subscriptions will start at $28/user for businesses and $20/user for schools."

This is meant to be a recurring revenue stream for them.

 

[dethmaShine]

Hahahaha. Neither of my computers take minutes to boot, because I actually know how to use and maintain my OS properly. My Thinkpad X120e boots from BIOS to fully-loaded desktop in 10 seconds with a solid-state drive. My desktop boots in about 28 seconds.

If you actually have to wait minutes for your computer to boot, you're doing it wrong. Reinstall your OS periodically and turn off unnecessary startup services.



Fixed. Is anyone else not seeing Google's ulterior motives behind creating their own "cloud OS"? Data mining. They want your personal information so they can make money off ads. Come ON people, please tell me none of you are actually going to buy a Chrome netbook (or should I call it a "botnetbook"?)

I was excited to read the rest of your comment after reading the first paragraph and then I almost puked on my screen.

 

[fat phil]

I don't know if anyone's already pointed this out, but renting computers is a bad idea. You don't get to Agree to an EULA every time you turn the computer on, and as long as you don't own the computer, anything and everything is up for grabs.

Caveat emptor:

http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2011/05/06/secret_spy_hardware_suit/

 

[KnightWRX]

"With HTML5 and other open standards, web applications will soon be able to do anything traditional applications can do, and more."

FUD and propaganda. HTML 5 adds some nice features, but it still cannot compete with a native development platform.

With things like Offline storage, offline caching of applications, WebGL, Web SQL Database, really, what is FUD and propaganda about that ? HTML is simply a presentation language, and all the code is written in Javascript, which is just a local code interpreter in your browser. How is that different from native developement using an interpreted language like Python/Perl/Ruby ? The problem was the lack of APIs and the W3C are changing that by giving developpers a very rich set of APIs.

 

[fat phil]

With things like Offline storage, offline caching of applications, WebGL, Web SQL Database, really, what is FUD and propaganda about that ? HTML is simply a presentation language, and all the code is written in Javascript, which is just a local code interpreter in your browser. How is that different from native developement using an interpreted language like Python/Perl/Ruby ? The problem was the lack of APIs and the W3C are changing that by giving developpers a very rich set of APIs.

I actually agree with this.

Personally I'm bored of "Clouds" and tit-tat arguments. I'm waiting for a Peter F. Hamilton-style Unisphere. Wake me when it arrives...

 

[PhantomPumpkin]

Doa?

Maybe, maybe not. Keep in mind skeptics of the iPad said it was a waste when it was released as well.

 

[Elbon]

HTML is not a GUI platform

HTML is simply a presentation language, and all the code is written in Javascript

HTML is a poor GUI platform, and JavaScript is a poor development language compared to Java, C#, or Objective-C (the languages used to build native apps for those "other" mobile platforms).

Like I said, HTML 5 is definitely an improvement over previous versions of the language, but it is still not a replacement for a native development toolkit, and never will be.

 

[Malcolm.]

I was excited to read the rest of your comment after reading the first paragraph and then I almost puked on my screen.

i has a sad ;__;

 

[42streetsdown]

People who use iMovie are not the target audience for this product. They are targeting education and enterprise. While more likely to use such a product, it's too little too late. It's almost like Google ripped a page out of the prior decade. Apple has enough money to buy Google, I just don't know why they don't do it.

Where is your source that apple has that kind of money? Google is HUGE. a small company like Skype can go for $8.5 Billion, and you think Apple has enough spare change to buy Google?
Besides why would they? Apple and Google may be competitors on some fronts, but Apple is still primarily a hardware company.

 

[KnightWRX]

HTML is a poor GUI platform

How so ? What is missing you need ? Don't forget that HTML5 also adds a lot of new input types that were missing previously. With the DOM specification, CSS and Javascript, you can even go so far as to create your own personalized controls from primitive HTML types. (Kind of like GTK+ does using Xlib calls).

and JavaScript is a poor development language compared to Java, C#, or Objective-C.

Again, how so ? What is poor about JavaScript the language ? It is a turing-complete programming language, browsers are now using JIT compiler technology, meaning what gets executed is the same native platform code that the Java VM or the .NET CLR execute, you just don't get the Bytecode step (ie, you don't compile the code to Bytecode, you simply feed the browser the source directly and the JIT translates that directly to native code instead of the Java compiler making Java Bytecode or the .NET CLI making their bytecode).

Do you mean the breadth of the APIs/Frameworks ? Again, a lot of it is coming with HTML5 and beyond. Graphics, Sound, Database access, local storage, what is it you need ? Maybe if you put your needs before the W3C, they will implement it...

Do you mean syntactic sugar ? Because there are languages that are much more limited in features than Javascript yet are used daily (some even lack OO altogether! What a disgrace, coding using old fashion procedural languages).

Is it type strength ? A lot of popular languages used for native development like Perl are not typed at all and yet can be used to write very powerful and flexible software.

When you say something sucks, be prepared to backup your claims because there might just be a few people with a clue who challenge you on them.

 

[Bernard SG]

Maybe, maybe not. Keep in mind skeptics of the iPad said it was a waste when it was released as well.

Thare's a world of difference between iPad's bleeding edge innovation and the Chromebook's re-hashing of decade old technology.

 

[42streetsdown]

Sounds interesting. But I'd also say some Linux distro would be better for a slower machine, such as a netbook. I'd never try Windows on a netbook, more like Ubuntu or Puppy Linux.

Chrome OS is a Linux OS

 

[Elbon]

How so ? What is missing you need ? Don't forget that HTML5 also adds a lot of new input types that were missing previously. With the DOM specification, CSS and Javascript, you can even go so far as to create your own personalized controls from primitive HTML types.

The <canvas> tag is underpowered compared to native 2D APIs, and trying to render anything using CSS is a mess. Way too complex.

What is poor about JavaScript the language ?

Lack of classes, compilation, and static typing?

Do you mean the breadth of the APIs/Frameworks ? Again, a lot of it is coming with HTML5 and beyond. Graphics, Sound, Database access, local storage, what is it you need ? Maybe if you put your needs before the W3C, they will implement it...

Again, I recognize that HTML 5 is a significant improvement over earlier versions. However, it does not compare to what you can do with a native toolkit such as Cocoa, Android, or WPF.

When you say something sucks, be prepared to backup your claims because there might just be a few people with a clue who challenge you on them.

Perhaps I have a clue myself.

 

[spencers]

Macbook... Chromebook. How original.

 

[Bernard SG]

Where is your source that apple has that kind of money? Google is HUGE. a small company like Skype can go for $8.5 Billion, and you think Apple has enough spare change to buy Google?
Besides why would they? Apple and Google may be competitors on some fronts, but Apple is still primarily a hardware company.

Google's market cap is $ 171 billion, Apple has 65 b + cash and equivalents. With some bank helping, Apple buying a controlling share of Google is not a technical impossibility. However there's no economic interest for Apple to buy a big chunk of Google.

 

[KnightWRX]

The <canvas> tag is underpowered compared to native 2D APIs, and trying to render anything using CSS is a mess. Way too complex.

Canvas is a pretty low level API. What is underpowered about it ? Is it underpowered because it only exposes primitives ? You can take those primitives and build anything on top of them, again, Canvas is like using straight Xlib or Quartz 2D to draw out a rich UI with dialogs, buttons, scrolling views, etc.. You have to write the whole code, that is the purpose of the API, being low level. Rich libraries will be built on top of Canvas exposing all of that as higher-level CreateDialog() type functions that do all of this work for you eventually. It's in its enfancy.

Or is the fact you find that the implementations (not the specification, let's not mix them up) are slow because they use software rendering ? Don't forget that that is an implementation limitation, not a limitation of the API/specification. Nothing is stopping browser vendors from shipping accelerated Canvas implementations.

You keep saying "sucks, underpowered" yet you justify nothing. You have no argument really beyond the usual flaming.

Lack of classes, compilation, and static typing?

Classes : Javascript is a procedural language at heart, like C, like Perl, like Pascal. However, like C, like Perl, some people have grafted OO concepts on it. You can create "classes" in Javascript, you have a this pointer (like self in Obj-C), you have constructors, inheritance and polymorphism.

Compilation : How does compilation make a language not suck ? Again, you ignore the fact that most browsers implement JIT compilation, making Javascript essentially the same as Java and .NET that also use this same JIT compilation in their respective VM and CLR environnements. What gets executed is the same native code.

Why is the intermediate compilation step to Bytecode something you value ? What inherent lack of suckage does Bytecode provide over straight source ? Faster compilation times ? Do we even notice on Core 2 Duos ?

Static Typing : Some people would say this is an advantage, not a con You happen to like static typing (I do to), some people don't. A lot of "native development languages" don't have static typing.

Again, I recognize that HTML 5 is a significant improvement over earlier versions. However, it does not compare to what you can do with a native toolkit such as Cocoa, Android, or WPF.

Again, you fail to qualify what it is you're trying to do. I doubt "Classes, compilation and static typing" are things programmers set out to do. They are features of the languages we use to implement stuff. What is it you want to implement that lacks a proper API in the proposed HTML5 set of APIs/specifications ?