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Chromebook

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Re: Chromebook

#91

Post by MatthewPhillips »

kenjackson wrote: post #67
jonknee wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's quite obviously not targeted at you. There are people who use computers who don't even know what Emacs or Visual Studio are. They're also the ones who have major troubles keeping their computers working. Google's working on abstracting away the IT guy. I hope it works.

And those people don't know what Google Docs are either. And when they get an Excel document where charts don't render correctly, or comments are screwed up, or pivot tables don't work against their datasource, they'll be POed. Or when all their friends are playing WoW and they realize that this device doesn't play it. Or when they want to Skype with their grandkids they realize, they can't do that. Or when they take…

Actually most of those examples are the niche; browsing Facebook and watching YouTube is what "average Joe" does.

Chrome is clearly meant to be a "do one thing really well" product, not a catch all computing device.

Re: Chromebook

#92

Post by guywithabike »

ebiester wrote: post #73

Perhaps someone with a CR-48 can enlighten me... how does one get their photos from their camera to the cloud on one of these?

In the keynote, the demo showed them putting an SD card in the machine and using a file manager to manually select and upload the files to Picasa.

Re: Chromebook

#93

Post by [deleted] »

ShabbyDoo wrote: post #77
kenjackson wrote: post #45

I can't imagine anyone buying this and being happy unless they are already intimately familiar with the device ahead of time. Too many limitations, with virtually no big upside functionality or user experience (unlike the iPad that makes up for limitations with some huge upside). As I'd mentioned before I can buy an ASUS Eee PC with an AMD C30 processor for $289 and be able to use the browser of my choice, sync my iP…

If I was tasked with selling Chromebooks door-to-door, my primary talking point would be "it just works" and I would point out the high cost of paying someone (GeekSquad, etc.) to perform software services on Windows computers. For people who are stumped by what we on HN consider to be minor annoyances, paying $75+/issue adds up pretty quickly. You are right that, for regular folks, the primary competitor is likely a…

[deleted]

Re: Chromebook

#95

Post by roc »

MatthewPhillips wrote: post #26
ChuckMcM wrote: post #21

Heh, I was amused that on Firefox that Javascript that does that whole stupid "fade in" crap took longer than 8 seconds to load :-). Note to web designers, its not studly its worthless bling, please don't give in to the temptation to do that stuff. From a product perspective it does have some nice benefits for the non-techies. I'd love to get my parents something that they could carry around to read email and view pi…

Much more difficult for that to work on iPad. It takes Chrome seconds to sync everything for a particular user. Since iPad apps aren't served on demand ala web apps, you'd have to download every app belong to the guest. Much wasted hard drive space. The iPad will remain a personal device, like a phone.

Why would the apps need to be duplicated?

Couldn't they just have their data access mapped toward space under each current_user account?

Sure, you'd have to flush any cached apps, leading to a little more load time here and there, but even then maybe not until/unless the new user tried to switch to a task still-running under another account.

All data access going through the fairly narrow SDKs, and a lack of willy-nilly multi-tasking would seem to make this a fairly straightforward project.

Re: Chromebook

#96

Post by kenjackson »

noodle wrote: post #71
kenjackson wrote: post #45

I can't imagine anyone buying this and being happy unless they are already intimately familiar with the device ahead of time. Too many limitations, with virtually no big upside functionality or user experience (unlike the iPad that makes up for limitations with some huge upside). As I'd mentioned before I can buy an ASUS Eee PC with an AMD C30 processor for $289 and be able to use the browser of my choice, sync my iP…

sounds pretty similar to the complaints about the ipad.

Big difference with iPad is that it has a great user experience. It's obvious on first use of the iPad. The iPad is this device that you show anyone and drool forms from the lips. It's sexy as hell. Then you list the limitations and lots of people still say, "I don't care" while others will care.

With the ChromeBooks there's no drooling. The limitations hit you like sack of steel. And then you have to explain the upside, which frankly isn't that interesting.

Note the difference. With the iPad you have to convince people its a bad idea to buy one. With the ChromeBook you have to convince people its a good idea to buy one.

Re: Chromebook

#97

Post by ianl »

hammock wrote: post #34

It took me a long time of exploring to realize they were talking about a laptop. I was like "Chromebook?" Is it a kindle? Is it an online scrapbook? Is it online literature? edit: why am i being downvoted? because i don't read tech blogs 24/7? because nowhere on the website does it actually say what a chromebook is?

I too was confused by the name, I thought it was a tablet until they showed the laptop in the video.

I had actually totally forgotten about ChromeOS until the announcement. That being said, I really like it. For people (and there seems to being a growing number of my friends and acquaintances) who use primarily only web apps this is an awesome idea. I am actually considering buying one for my girlfriend when they come out.

Has any pricing information been released?

Re: Chromebook

#98

Post by cryptoz »

kenjackson wrote: post #67
jonknee wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's quite obviously not targeted at you. There are people who use computers who don't even know what Emacs or Visual Studio are. They're also the ones who have major troubles keeping their computers working. Google's working on abstracting away the IT guy. I hope it works.

And those people don't know what Google Docs are either. And when they get an Excel document where charts don't render correctly, or comments are screwed up, or pivot tables don't work against their datasource, they'll be POed. Or when all their friends are playing WoW and they realize that this device doesn't play it. Or when they want to Skype with their grandkids they realize, they can't do that. Or when they take…

> And those people don't know what Google Docs are either. And when they get an Excel document where charts don't render correctly, or comments are screwed up, or pivot tables don't work against their datasource, they'll be POed.

What's wrong with the Office Web Apps?

http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/web-apps/

> Or when all their friends are playing WoW and they realize that this device doesn't play it.

Nobody expects epic graphics to run on this. Nobody expects that to run on your netbook either (if it does, cool! but that's NOT why you bought a "net"book).

> Or when they want to Skype with their grandkids they realize, they can't do that.

It has a web cam. Do they have gmail accounts? This is likely intended to be purchased by gmail-using people. Just have them sign in to Gmail. It's not like the Chromebooks don't have cameras or anything.

> Or when they take the photo editing class and realize that the laptop doesn't run the software so they trot halfway across campus to use the lab that has the software installed.

Photo editing isn't an expected activity for these devices. And, as time goes by, more and more really awesome photo editing web apps will arrive. You won't need to take a class to learn how to edit photos.

> The subset of people I could recommend this to is crazy small -- maybe zero given the price point.

Please listen to everyone else here; you and your friends are not the target market for this device. We get that you don't like it and your friends won't either. We don't care. I know ~ 20 people who would absolutely love one of these. Our stories are nothing more than useless anecodes. Don't suggest this device is a failure because you alone can't find someone who wants to just use the web.

> Speaking of which, how well does that work with Chrome (seriously asking)?

Very well. Plug it in, dealy pops up.

Re: Chromebook

#99

Post by RainFlutter »

tokenadult wrote: post #53

"* Obviously, you're going to need a wireless network, be willing to use it subject to the provider's terms and conditions, and be ready to put up with its real life limitations including, for example, its speed and availability. When you do not have network access, functionality that depends on it will not be available." http://www.google.com/chromebook/#features That's some very important information to put in a fo…

To me it sounds incredibly petulant and defensive, especially considering that it basically contradicts the "always connected" header which it's footnoting.

~Always connected! ~PS OBVIOUSLY this computer will not ACTUALLY be always connected in the REAL WORLD, what were you expecting

Really weird of them.

Re: Chromebook

#100

Post by Kylekramer »

kenjackson wrote: post #67
jonknee wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's quite obviously not targeted at you. There are people who use computers who don't even know what Emacs or Visual Studio are. They're also the ones who have major troubles keeping their computers working. Google's working on abstracting away the IT guy. I hope it works.

And those people don't know what Google Docs are either. And when they get an Excel document where charts don't render correctly, or comments are screwed up, or pivot tables don't work against their datasource, they'll be POed. Or when all their friends are playing WoW and they realize that this device doesn't play it. Or when they want to Skype with their grandkids they realize, they can't do that. Or when they take…

I pretty sure Google knows all of this. And are counting on it. They want them in people's hands, and they know once they are, all of those problems play into their vision.

And those people don't know what Google Docs are either. And when they get an Excel document where charts don't render correctly, or comments are screwed up, or pivot tables don't work against their datasource, they'll be POed.

Google likes this. Excel screws up? Perfect, just use Google Docs. Mission accomplished. People are surprisingly flexible if you throw up a barrier. An hour or so of pissing off a customer is a exchange Google is willing to make if it give them a shot at a new Docs user.

Or when all their friends are playing WoW and they realize that this device doesn't play it.

Really? Hardcore gamers are the last people who would use this, and the first people to recognize that.

Or when they want to Skype with their grandkids they realize, they can't do that.

Hmm, Skype doesn't work? I am sure the company with their own browser based video chat system is crying a river.

Or when they take the photo editing class and realize that the laptop doesn't run the software so they trot halfway across campus to use the lab that has the software installed.

As the owners of Picnik, they are again very angry, I am sure.

Or when they go to get all their stuff on iTunes and sync their iPhone with it and realize that they still need their old laptop.

Apple uses their mobile platform to encourage people to use Macs, why can't Google encourage use of their mobile platform with their laptops?

There are always going to be a million reasons why a new device won't fit the current system. But Google is making a big bet on the future, and for my point of view, this seems pretty ingenious. And an utter cash cow if they pull it off.

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