Chromebooks and the cloud: The ugly truth
David Linthicum, writing for InfoWorld:
The difference with that use of cloud computing compared to the Chromebook’s is that I’m not forced to be completely dependent on the cloud for these services; I can mix and match them to meet my specific needs. I don’t think I’m alone in wanting that freedom.
Thus, Chromebooks could be to laptops what Google TV was to cable TV: a great idea in concept, but not thought through as to how the device would be used in the real world by real people. The innovative nature of the Chromebook won’t get around its inherent limitations.
Such a tough call; when the iPad came out, first-blush reactions were that it was nothing more than a ‘big iPod touch.” 18 months later, anyone who still holds that opinion hasn’t used an iPad.
So when I read stuff like this, I wonder if the author has actually used one of the soon-to-be-shipping Chromebook models from Acer or Samsung. I’m guessing not.
I understand his theoretical objection: the Chromebook is simply a cloud client. If your network connection dies, you’re out of business. If you’re in an area without a network connection, your machine is probably functionally worthless. Local storage is limited, and the idea of local apps — something everyone’s familiar with — is non-existent.
As I sit here and type this, though, I am doing 90% of my work in Google Chrome. I’m entering this text in a WordPress bookmarklet, which spawns another Chrome window. My only open local apps are Skype and Tweetdeck. A few times during each day, I have to make a quick jaunt into Word or Excel, but the lifting is light: I could just as easily use Google Docs. I don’t because I’m often doing a lot of edits, and docs come to me in MS Office formats.
My quibble with the Chromebooks center around their price (as many others have noted): $349 to $469? That ain’t cheap, especially when you can get a full-on Windows 7 laptop for very close to that price.
I think the Chromebook concept is a good one, but I wonder if the timing is right. The price might not be. Aside from the nerd and web monkey populations out there (among which I count myself), I imagine the initial reaction will be, “It’s just a browser?”
That’s tough sledding. You can explain local vs. cloud storage until you’re blue in the face, but people are going to have a hard time making such a macro adjustment. Remember the backlash against Office’s ribbon-style toolbar when it came out? You’d think someone took away users’ most important apps and entirely changed their computer.
Which is exactly what Google is trying to do.
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