Cue the scary music
From the Official Google Blog:
Today, we’re announcing a new project that’s a natural extension of Google Chrome — the Google Chrome Operating System. It’s our attempt to re-think what operating systems should be.
Google Chrome OS will run on both x86 as well as ARM chips and we are working with multiple OEMs to bring a number of netbooks to market next year. The software architecture is simple — Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel. For application developers, the web is the platform. All web-based applications will automatically work and new applications can be written using your favorite web technologies. And of course, these apps will run not only on Google Chrome OS, but on any standards-based browser on Windows, Mac and Linux thereby giving developers the largest user base of any platform.
I have nothing to say that I haven’t already said before.
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Apple, Business strategy, Consumer electronics, Google, Internet, Microsoft, OS X, Reblog, Security, Software, Telecommunications, Vista, Web-services, Windows, XP, innovation, marketing, open-source, search, web2.0, web3.0
From Kari, via Friendfeed:
My response: I think that netbooks have been trapped way before Android et. al. Imagine this situation: What are netbooks designed for? The internet, right? As well as portability. As well as being ultra-cheap. In other words, netbooks are another way of saying: really big and cheap mobile phones. And mobile phones are trapped, because they are dependant on mobile carriers. Now netbooks, being big mobile phones, are trapped from 3 ends: the carrier, the software, and the consumer. They can’t charge much, which won’t do good for their bottom-line. They depend on compatibility with software (who have bigger marketing pockets) and cooperation with carriers (who also have bigger marketing pockets).
If you ask me, everything points to netbooks eventually becoming a failed experiment.
Coming from the business side and then moving into the technical side later in my career, I see both sides of this subject…and it has been debated extensively. Netbooks for up and coming companies are a win/win for the companies and the consumers. Dell and HP may not be so interested because they are trying trying to sell more expensive units so it is easier to mark them up and gain more profits but even these two US giants had to jump on the bandwagon. I think we are just starting to see the beginning of the netbook explosion. Bigger and more versatile than a phone=bigger display and ease of use (can you really type a university paper on an iPhone? Probably but no one in their right mind would want to but you can EASILY on a netbook, integrated wifi and built in cellular air car, choice of OS, etc, etc. Who drives the sales market? In cellular it is the 13-25 yr old, who is going to use the netbook? 13-25 yr olds. Who else drives the market? Businesses. Who else is going to buy the netbook? Businesses who have employees constantly on the move. Everything fails at some point, I just threw out my retired CRT monitor last week, but netbooks are on the up and up.
Yes, but I cannot envision netbooks as anything more than a loss-leader for manufacturers. There’s been a recent discussion around Aston Martin’s new mini-car, which raises similar questions. Their argument: everyone who drives a luxury car, also wants a smaller, more casual car. But many argue, it also devalues Aston’s premium status in the process.
In the netbooks/PCs, it makes sense as well, we all need a 2nd or 3rd smaller device on the road. But when you actually end up using a netbook, it makes no sense at all. Underpowered and running an OS (XP) which isn’t designed for it. Not to mention all the pre-installed shareware to make up for the reduced margins.
There’s something wrong with this formula of producing smaller, weaker machines, charge virtually nothing for them, and then, to compensate, having to load them with bad software and make them completely useless. I guess that’s what Google OS is here to fix.
I agree with the software issue. I do have a netbook and use it almost on a daily basis as I travel weekly. There are some MS applications I need to use, related to work, so XP Pro had to stay but the first thing I did was install a Linux distro dual boot which always makes me happy.
With cellular companies all jumping on board, I just got word AT&T is starting to carry Dell, Acer and Lenovo netbooks nationwide by end of month, I’m positive at least this year, the sales of netbooks will dominate the PC market.
I’m interested to see how the Google OS does. If anyone is worried about failing, it seems to me MS should be the company worried. With a failed Windows Vista more and more people are looking to alternatives. I almost fell over when I spotted a desktop at a local electronics chain running Linux and with iPhone mania drawing more people to Apple (not to mention Apple increasing distribution through BestBuy), now Google is capitalizing on the building momentum too…if Windows 7 is a mess anything near that of Vista, the dominance of MS will come to a quick end.
By the way, I love your blog Vincent.
Thanks for the compliment, Dano, but truthfully, I think the hamster video does half the blog, eh work. And, of course, I share the credit with the 15 other bloggers who post here.
Regarding the threat to Microsoft, I think Microsoft has always survived because of its strong compatibility with business. Which is also the reason why you and me have to run Windows for work.
Basically, all that company has to do is flick a switch and release an ultra-light, ultra-cheap Windows version for Netbooks and I think they’ll blast Google, Linux, and others out the market. But since they’re a ba’a'a’ad company, they’re slow to react, giving other companies and consumers room (and hope) for an alternative.
They’re also kind of locked into partnerships with hardware companies that constantly demand that the next Windows version ups the specs and hence people buy a new PC. If netbooks do make it big, I imagine that tune will change drastically.
And, just to make this comment as long as a blog post, there’s an interesting new dimension regarding the partnerships between netbooks and mobile carriers as well. Carriers, being known as the slave-masters of tech, are gaining a power-position there and that forces, in my opinion, hardware manufacturers to not give netbooks too much processing power as they don’t want people to consider netbooks as the only machine they need, thus protecting their other business-model of changing “normal” prices for PCs.
Ah, business strategy, I can write/talk about it all day!