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Play Store and Android Apps Coming to Chromebooks

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Re: Play Store and Android Apps Coming to Chromebooks

#171

Post by aedron »

groovypuppy wrote: post #142
jalami wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Congrats on the adoption, although I still don't think it's moving our public institutions in the right direction. It's really just moving a lot more kids into a walled garden. I know Google has been in hot water for collecting student data recently and has since taken steps to fix it. That's their primary business model though. " Anonymizing " promises always follow and then it's a trust game again. I can see a futu…

"I can see a future where a mandatory Google account follows you up the grades. Educational software is released exclusively in Google's Play store. Assignments and homework are handed in with Google Drive and Google Docs." This is not the future. This is now. At the school district where I volunteer as a computer instructor, all the first graders already have a Google account that will follow them throughout their g…

Same thing here, only they are using Microsoft's cloud stuff for MS Office. These cloud suites are just too convenient not to use, and as long as there is no open and free alternative, it seems schools are stuck choosing between one of the oligopolists.

Re: Play Store and Android Apps Coming to Chromebooks

#173

Post by pjmlp »

paride5745 wrote: post #170
pjmlp wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it is the year of the Java desktop.

Careful, Oracle might use this statement!

Google could have avoided all this mess, if they have done it cleanly together with Sun, or bothered to buy them afterwards.

There are quite a few commercial Java vendors with customized versions, like e.g. IS2T with MicroEJ that have licensing agreements in place.

http://www.microej.com/

If Google loses the trial, they will be paying much more than they would have spent.

Re: Play Store and Android Apps Coming to Chromebooks

#174

Post by babayega2 »

jimmcslim wrote: post #109

Why are Chromebooks such a US phenomenon... Here in Australia retail availability is pretty dire. I wonder if this development might see that start to change?

Here in Africa, they're are few given at tech events or bought by unknowingly parents to their kids.

I got one which helped me to start my first job. Important thing is it's auto update.

Re: Play Store and Android Apps Coming to Chromebooks

#175

Post by babayega2 »

jimmcslim wrote: post #109

Why are Chromebooks such a US phenomenon... Here in Australia retail availability is pretty dire. I wonder if this development might see that start to change?

Here in Africa, they're are few given at tech events or bought by unknowingly parents to their kids.

I got one which helped me to start my first job. Important thing is it's auto update.

Re: Play Store and Android Apps Coming to Chromebooks

#176

Post by izacus »

azakai wrote: post #114
izacus wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1.) Majority of the apps with NDK code will ship x86 binaries as well. It's very rarely a problem. 2.) For those that don't, libhoudini does an ok job even on slower phones. On faster chromebooks that shouldn't be an issue at all.

This does, however mean that 1. This depends on closed-source code (libhoudini is Intel code, and it's not open, last I heard). I guess it's not the first piece of closed-source code in Chromebooks, but it's a crucial piece. 2. This code is still not portable, it just runs on 2 archs, unless someone writes a libhoudini for all other archs as well.

What "other archs"? Android only supports 3 ARM architectures (all of them will load armeabi binaries), x86 and MIPS (with 0 MIPS devices or phones being on the market).

Chromebooks run only ARM or x86.

Again, this is an issue that's relevant to a tiny minority of the applications since vast majority do not ship native binaries.

Re: Play Store and Android Apps Coming to Chromebooks

#177

Post by imtringued »

stephenr wrote: post #162
piyush_soni wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know what's inherently so bad about "being a google user". It's mostly paranoia. If the only hypothetical disadvantage you're thinking about it is "Google might shut down one day", then you're not thinking about a very near future. If the TV channels shut down tomorrow, your TVs effectively stop working too, you still buy them. There are hundreds of such devices out there, which you buy because it's pretty ev…

> I don't know what's inherently so bad about "being a google user". Having every facet of your digital life mined for personal data, for the sake of a mega-corp's bottom line? > If the only hypothetical disadvantage you're thinking about it is "Google might shut down one day" Not at all. Its actually more likely "Google might stop supporting X, Y or Z that you depend on".. They, you know, have a history of doing tha…

The only problem with "data mining" is the government, not corporations. The corporations use that data to only do one single thing: give you personalised ads.

However the government could pass new laws and prosecute you for things you have done 20 years ago on the internet.

Re: Play Store and Android Apps Coming to Chromebooks

#179

Post by kuschku »

microtonal wrote: post #153
jalami wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Congrats on the adoption, although I still don't think it's moving our public institutions in the right direction. It's really just moving a lot more kids into a walled garden. I know Google has been in hot water for collecting student data recently and has since taken steps to fix it. That's their primary business model though. " Anonymizing " promises always follow and then it's a trust game again. I can see a futu…

They took a page from Microsoft's playbook. They know that you have to capture the next generation in schools. I agree with your worries. But it also tells that other parties in the market have utterly failed to compete. iPads used to get traction, but are more expensive, and Apple doesn't provide a complete ecosystem like Google Apps for Education. Microsoft has been sleeping, they have all the pieces but wanted to…

> The open source solutions require you to hire some sysadmins

That is rarely an issue, though – even my German (combined middle and high) school had a dedicated sysadmin and two teachers teaching computer science who had a PhD in compsci.

Developing custom systems, running them, etc comes a lot cheaper longterm than going into vendor lock-in (especially with privacy laws, where even looking at Google can cost you millions)

Re: Play Store and Android Apps Coming to Chromebooks

#180

Post by kuschku »

imtringued wrote: post #177
stephenr wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't know what's inherently so bad about "being a google user". Having every facet of your digital life mined for personal data, for the sake of a mega-corp's bottom line? > If the only hypothetical disadvantage you're thinking about it is "Google might shut down one day" Not at all. Its actually more likely "Google might stop supporting X, Y or Z that you depend on".. They, you know, have a history of doing tha…

The only problem with "data mining" is the government, not corporations. The corporations use that data to only do one single thing: give you personalised ads. However the government could pass new laws and prosecute you for things you have done 20 years ago on the internet.

Have you missed out on the past few years of news?

Facebook has admitted to having manipulated which articles showed up in your news stream, and in which order, to test if they could manipulate the mood of their users.

There was even a discussion about it on here.

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