Update: We have an unboxing of the new Samsung ChromeBook below! Plus we will be launching The Chrome Show in coming days!
One of the biggest mistakes that people make is to take what is important in their world and assume it is important for everyone. I believe this is what is happening among some tech journalist and bloggers when it comes to the new Google Chrome-books. The first complaint that many power users especially gamers have about the Chrome-book is you can’t play games like Portal on it. Well guess what, most people don’t play games like Portal on their computers as it is. They either don’t play them at all or they play them on a console. What most people are playing on their computers are causal games like Farmville or AngryBirds and games like these can be played online and therefore the Chrome-book. The second complaint is that the cloud by nature is not secure and never will be. That putting one’s life on the web is too dangerous and your data maybe at risk. Well I have a couple of questions on this subject first so Windows is secure now, because that is what most people are on. The second question is where do you do most of your banking, I am guessing that most people do their banking on line and don’t think twice about it. If a browser is secure enough to do your banking through then maybe it can be secure enough to do other things through. The fact is no operating system is fulling secure, especially if it is connected to the Internet. If it’s not connected to the Internet, then for most people it is not much use.. Security is going to be a problem no matter how you store your data whether on-line or off. The third complaint is that you can do the same thing and more on a net-book Plus net-book are lighter then the Chrome-book. First I question how much more you can do well on a net-book compared to the Chrome-book. Yes net-books are smaller and lighter, however the Chrome-book has a full size keyboard and a nice screen size. Another advantage that the Chrome-book has over a net book is that all updates are automatic including security updates. For a power user this may not be a big deal, but I know too many non-power users who forget or are afraid to update and so don’t. The Chrome-book does it automatically, so there is nothing to forget. The final complaint is that because the Chrome-book is dependent on the Internet if your connection goes down the Chrome-notebook becomes useless. This is not totally true, you can still use Gmail, Google Docs and Google Calendar off-line as will some third party apps.
I not saying the Chrome -book is for everyone, if you are a power user then it is not for you. I can see it being used in schools, and small business where having a system that is easy to update and simple to use is important. A school may want students to have the ability to do research on line or work on documents, but don’t want them to have access to a full computer then the Chrome-book may make sense. I received a Cr48 ( the beta Chrome notebook) when they first came out and I gave it to my husband a couple of months ago and he loves it, it was exactly what he was looking for. He uses it to do research on the Internet, watch YouTube videos and take some notes. He doesn’t need or want a full computer at home. I think the Chrome-book will succeed over time as long as Google continues to maintain and improve it. What do you think are you interested in the Chrome-book.
