Are you ready for a netbook that doesn’t have an operating system? Google is banking on it, as it unveils the first Google branded netbook. Today, Tuesday, is the day of the anouncement and while the thought of a browser driven netbook is interesting, it does have some hurtles to hop.
Being a browser driven device means no downloading and installing programs like Windows based systems. The long awaited Chrome App. store is an absolute necessity if users are going to do something besides surf and search, so it’s no surprise that the arrival of the app. store is also set to happen today.
The actual hardware is not expected to hit retail until some time in 2011, although there will be 60,000 to 100,000 units ready for early testing by Google friends and family. These units are being made by Samsung and will feature a 10″ screen, 2 gigs of memory, 12 hour run time, and a 1.5 single stage processor.
The plus side of the browser driven device is that it takes only a couple of seconds to boot as compared to 30 to 60 seconds for a standard operating system based product. The early reports describe Chrome 8 as an improvement in speed and stability along with some important feature additions like a sandboxed PDF viewer. With virtually no boot time and no resource draining operating system, Chrome netbook is set to kick some serious butt in the speed department.
This may just seem like just another piece of hardware hitting the crowded digital streets but it’s more than that. This marks an important event in the era of Cloud computing. This moves cloud computing to more appropriate hardware. Hardware that almost demands Cloud technology. How that hardware handles and settles into our lives will determine the development of computing for the next few years.
This is all great news for Google but for me it’s more about watching the changes taking place in our daily existence. The advent of cell phones, laptops, and now netbooks and pads is connecting us like never before.
Today it’s possible to sit beside someone that has never been unconnected. How is that going to play out? What happens to people who have never been without a digital connection when for whatever cataclysmic reason they are without device? Will they be able to stand the stress of “No Device”?
I am deviceless. My thoughts are surrounding me. I cannot escape by pressing, clicking, and reading text. I have no pictures, only reality. I’m thinking this could be a hard time for someone who has never been deviceless.
Will there come a day when being SansDevice will seem unbearable? Will there be a day when “The Device” is actually implanted in us?
Of course there will. We already have joints, pacemakers, stints, and hearing aids. Why not memory or data chips? Inside the skin or outside the skin, tell me what you think.
__________________________________
UPDATE: This quote is from Googledotcom: “What did we leave out? Spinning disks, caps-lock key, function keys, and lap burns.
The Cr-48 is available exclusively to participants in the Pilot program.”
__________________________________
