Google announced this week the June 15 launch of its shiny new Chromebook product. People are comparing it to the Apple iPad, with some even saying the iPad doesn’t stand a chance.
The Chromebook is a laptop designed to run only browser-based applications. The idea is that nothing resides on the device. Everything is in the cloud. The Chromebook is cheap, gets great battery life, and because data resides in the cloud, idiot users can’t screw up.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin said that with PCs, “the complexity of managing your computer is really torturing users… It’s a flawed model fundamentally.”
True enough. What you didn’t hear anywhere in the Google announcement is the dreaded “i” word.
The iPad has already solved the problem for consumers that Brin talked about. And that’s the biggest reason Chromebook will fail.
79 responses to “How iPad Will Kill Google’s Chromebook”
I can see a market for Chromebook… except not where but when. And that when is two or three years ago.
100% agree. Google is WAY late to the game. 500 dollars for a crippled laptop is rediculous as well. It should be priced around $250 at the very most. Why would anyone buy a Chrome Netbook when they could have an iPad, WebOS tablet, Blackberry tablet, or even an Android tablet.
Ten Years from now we are going to dig up this article and laugh this is the way we thought. However, obviously, now isn’t 10 years from now. We aren’t set up and don’t have the technology to handle this. If we could run CS5 straight from the cloud, over 3G on a small netbook, i think this could work out, but technologically we just aren’t there.
Plus, i have to agree that people are going to have a hard time spending $500 on a limited use netbook when they can get a sexy iPad for the same price (minus the 3G). At $250 i MIGHT pull the trigger, at $300 i can find a number of decent netbooks.
Ten Years from now we are going to dig up this article and laugh this is the way we thought. However, obviously, now isn’t 10 years from now. We aren’t set up and don’t have the technology to handle this. If we could run CS5 straight from the cloud, over 3G on a small netbook, i think this could work out, but technologically we just aren’t there.
Plus, i have to agree that people are going to have a hard time spending $500 on a limited use netbook when they can get a sexy iPad for the same price (minus the 3G). At $250 i MIGHT pull the trigger, at $300 i can find a number of decent netbooks.
with recent news events of digital data being hacked,I just don’t trust cloud computing.
Another DOA product from Google, the kingpin of perpetual beta products, just like Google TV and countless of other craps.
I have had one of the CR48 “test” units for a couple of months now. I don’t own an iPad, but do have an iPhone. All one has to do is use the CR48 to understand that this thing is DOA. It’s a great idea for a netbook, but it’s several years too late. We have full power laptops for not much more $$ that aren’t that much larger. Then we have tablets. Where in the heck does a crippled laptop fit in?!?
The thing is, why would anyone prefer running any program from the cloud? Is it better for the user? not really. It’s better for companies like Google that do data mining to sell it to other companies. I don’t like that.
What’s the deal with “the cloud”? Why is it that people think that having their data in a server miles and miles away, relying on a third party company whose primarily activity is data mining and relying on an internet connection is better than having their data stored locally. I just don’t get it.
It’s definitively a good move for companies like Google, but not a good thing for the user.
I can see the Chromebook being useful for some consumers. Simple, light and having good battery life. It would probably a lot easier to maintain than some Windows netbook. Even if the Chromebook doesn’t become really popular, anything that cuts down the usage of Windows computers is good as far as I’m concerned. There are getting to be more alternatives than Windows and the diversity will wean consumers from thinking that the only way any computing can be done is with a Windows device.
Looks like an ugly HP netbook to me.
Cloud computing is useful… but your entire storage in the cloud.. in the hands of ONE company??? no thanks… thumb drives are getting cheaper and cheaper and growing in capacity that why do I need a cloud to back up my stuff… and for some, WiFi is everywhere but NOT true for everyone… and if your connection is down.. your entire machine is unusable
This chromebook would be a great choice if it was at $150 but pricing it the same as capable netbooks is a #FAIL… a netbook is capable of anything the chromebook can do..PLUS more
If I want to use cloud I can still use a netbook or an iPad plus local space and full OS…
If I use a Chromebook… all I have is the cloud and laggy browser apps.
Of course it’s going to kill off the Chrome whatever…it doesn’t start with a lower case “i” and end in “Pad”
This article is so poor. Is it that difficult to put a real picture of a chromebook and not a very old mockup? Seriously? Are you paid for that? And why the hell would you compare a chromebook with an ipad? why not comparing an ipad with a xbox360 while you are at it?
The ipad did not solve anything. What did it solve? Auto-backup? nop. Auto-update? nop. Productivity? nop. Powerful internet browsing (Real multitask browsing)? nop…..
Are you serious?
Imagine using a Linux box, than imagine having access only to the web browser with everything in the cloud. Than imagine paying more for it and yes, you got – an overpriced & overhyped Linux Chromebook for Google suckers. DOA
I think Google forgets a fundamental concept. “People believe what they do, see and say than what others do. Have you ever come across a situation of doing something that you had already asked your colleague to do? (unless u are lazy).Human tendency to do every important thing for himself is prehistoric. People won’t believe what is on cloud as far as they have a copy of one.
Do you believe in your bank account?
Well that’s a start…
We don’t need to live in future at present dear friend. Future can be more unimaginable than what google or apple or our dream appears but present is the time period of the life of the machine u purchase. The consumer may be connected via cloud tomorrow. Everyone will find out a way to come across problems or have choice of service provider. That’s how things can work. Risk bearing ability can be for the producer (of a single product) but the customers can’t take risk on every product he buys. I dont think price is a barrier as far as the usage is going to be there. I believe chrome OS has chance to be a hit with business users and schools.choice of service provider. That’s how things can work. Risk bearing ability can be for the producer (of a single product) but the customers can’t take risk on every product he buys. I dont think price is a barrier as far as the usage is going to be there. I believe chrome OS has chance to be a hit with business users and schools.
Anyone notice this supposed new release looks almost EXACTLY like the MSI Wind U100s of about four years ago?
Chromebook’s Chrome OS is not the only cloud OS, in fact, there is one much better that has a social element to it that the Chromebook does not have, many are saying Google was a little late to market with this idea like this..
http://www.tech-adventures.com…
As there is a huge portion of this continent without certainty of internet access, lots of folk will still be wanting to be able to carry their info with them. On a daily basis, I use software that depends on solid internet connection while in the field; I still use paper lots of days. Until access to the internet is truly ubiquitous, we will still need to have applications and data available on a local storage device.
You can get a Windows netbook/laptop with better specs that can do much more than a Chromebook for almost the same price. Chromebooks are nothing more than browsers set up as the main OS, that isn’t enough for most people who want more from their computers.
Chrome OS will has offline capabilities.
I like the idea of it….but Ipad already solved the problems of Chrome. As soon as IOS gets over the air updates…there is no reason to have a chromebook at all. I guess for businesses it could work but only for a few people in business… if that…
we can’t imagine what tech we’ll be using in 10 years, but you can get an iPad 1 for a little over $300 right now, straight from Apple.
as others have already pointed out, what’s the appeal of this device, when there are more capable devices for the same or less $?
the fact that Google makes money from your personal usage stats, is reason enough to avoid their OS.
I can’t believe you’re getting so worked up over a stupid picture.
why so serious?
I see the chromebook and the iPad as being totally different products. I doubt chromebooks will pose much of a threat to iPad or other tablets. Maybe there will me some adoption in small business.
For my needs the ipad 2 has the best of both worlds. 3G connectivity when out and about, Wifi when at home, and local storage for the times in between.
The only real thing the Chromebook adds is a physical keyboard and over the air updates. Soon the ipad will have OTA, and keyboards are already a dime a dozen.
Really the Chromebook is trying to invent another space that just isn’t really there…like the netbook, it will fade away. I used Chrome OS and having a glorified browser is nothing to write home about. I can get a glorified browser on my netbook.
Food for thought: Tab’s slow down CPU cycles too.
A laptop with cloud-based-only OS ? I can’t store anything ? I can’t even log in if the internet connection is not working ? No, thanks. Cloud is nice – as an additional storage feature, but not as a sole way the OS works.
The picture is an indication that the author of this article did not care much about what he was writing. If he had really spent time studying chrome os and the chromebooks, he would have put an updated picture. The only point of this article is obviously to publish an attractive title on the internet and bring traffic.
I agree, I see no point in cloud either, like those music services they´re about to offer, I think it will be useless if you don´t have an internet connection or a data plan, besides it will take longer to access what you want and there´ll be downloading times, etc. I just don´t think is practical.
You can take the ipad out of the statements. Even if it didn’t exist this would likely fail, especially in the US where bandwidth blows.
You can’t do anything unless you are online and there’s not widespread wifi, so you’d need 3g to pick up the slack and we know how ATT etc are with their data plans. That’s pretty much a no go.
And since everything is on the cloud, one good server crash like the Sidekick and it’s all over.
There are very few folks that would be willing to play by those rules.
I kind of agree. I like the idea of the cloud as a compliment to my stuff.
Say like my music. I have a huge collection, about 60% of which (and pretty much 100% in the last 3 years) was bought online from Amazon and iTunes. I have the files on my desktop at home. I love the idea of being able to have a system or even two if they would work together where I could stream my full collection (or at least that 60%) anywhere that I’m online. So then I don’t fill up my phone with tons of music etc. That’s why I loved lala.com. As long as it was in their catalog they didn’t care what my source was and I had everything together.
But I would never put everything just in the cloud.
You Mac fucktard’s cannot see past anything that is not overpriced and a piece of shit.
nah. don’t be such a pessimist bro.
you could just as easily have concluded, that the author used the picture to make the point that Chrome OS is late to the game.
Could The Google Chromebook be a Whole New Level of Thinking?. http://bit.ly/ltZWiQ
i agree. the picture is a crap laptop from probably 8 years ago with a chromeOS screenshot. i would imagine it took more time to do that than to post a picture of the actual chromebook. crap article and x2 on the retarded comparison to an ipad.
it is funny…why would you want an internet only computer? why would you want a tablet computer without a keyboard that also relies on wifi/3g only? your concerned about ISPs or open networks not being reliable, nothing would change for your ipads. if apple would have released this product all you would hear on here is how cool and innovative it is and how everyone cant wait to test it out. sad but it is true.
ps the chromebook will have some offline capabilities. only a few initially but it will grow.
The iPad has already solved the problem for consumers who struggle with the complexity of other computing devices?? I tried to help a colleague with his iPad, it was simply impossible to get it to synchronize its data (just pictures!) after it had already worked for a while – but of course that must be a complete exception (well two exceptions since I was as puzzled as he), sorry for intruding into holy Apple space…
Where is the keyboard on the iPad? How’s that Kool-Aid taste?