I had nasty experience trying to access my xd-card / card-readers from linux PCs. I wonder how crunchpad/Google/Palm will go about solving this problem? Any IDEAs?

Maybe they will follow the iPhone model, which means you will still need a regular PC and iTunes like software to synce the web-tablet with the contents in the regular PC? or maybe the future will be all wi-fi enabled devices which can talk to each other without any driver/software installations?

?????

I imagine an OS that is big enough to run a web browser. Typical web browser have the option to store websites to let you view them “off line” when your online, it can check for a new version of the page and update what is stored on it. I suspect the apps in the cloud may end up doing the same. Getting an update for the off line version of google docs would happen the next time a user logs into the google docs website. With that said there will be updates that would have to be downloaded and applied to the machine for the OS and the browser but potentially not for all the apps that are in the cloud. Updates for those would happen seamlessly.

It could get to a point when a netbook running chrome OS is acting flakey or running poorly that consumers will be able to buy a new one for a reasonable price. Even today I know people that will go out and buy a new cheap computer when they start to have problems with their current one. Why pay a few hundred dollars to take a sick PC in the shop to get fixed when you can buy a whole new PC for a few hundred bucks. If chrome consists of just enough OS to run a web browser and talk to a network card or cellular radio for internet on the go then it would run on less hardware that would be cheaper to make….. like cell phones. I imagine too they may end up getting subsidized by cellular providers like cell phones are currently.
Look at the android G1 phone, ink a 2 year contract for phone and data get a big break on the cost of the phone. Pay a little extra each month and if it does break, the cellular provider will fix it or replace it.

With google going the open source route with it, anyone would be able to make it better to meet their needs which could benefit everyone. This is something that the microsofts and apples of the world currently aren’t doing with their OSes and browsers.

Virus protection will always be necessary for large ecosystems of computers, despite whether the computers in those ecosystems are dumb or smart. All the baddies want is a large install base of computers smart enough to report what you do and take directions remotely.

Software updates will always be required, even for the light weight systems because people are always attempting to do more and more with less and less. Peripherals are not dead my friend. Geotagging, voice recognition, cameras, video cameras, music players, remote controls for media players, finger scanners, etc. Something will always be around that requires driver support.

Password protection is MORE important with a mobile, network-dependent device, as Jamie pointed out above. And because every cloud service will likely have multiple different systems for handling credentials, and not all of them will be secure, you’ll probably use the same password for all of them. And because of this, you’ll want to be sure you’re not being keylogged, hence more security software.

You’re talking about people jumping through hoops to go backwards, to the days when our fathers sat at dumb terminals connected to a mainframe. It doesn’t make any sense because it is a rose-colored Utopian solution to an imaginary problem.

If your computer appliance does less, there’s less bugs that will need to be fixed. You don’t need a robust OS with driver support for lots and lots of peripherals. You need a modular OS with drivers for the specific hardware in the appliance. There may be updates, but they’d be far fewer than what we see now. How often do updates come out for your mobile phone?

Having a password to access your internet appliance is certainly a good idea, but that’s a lot different from supporting multiple user accounts.

I know many people who will leap at the opportunity to have a reliable, stable appliance with which to access the internet. They don’t need peripherals: they need access to the online services they use every day.

All it’ll take is one serious Google goof–Gmai accounts losing mail left and right, Google Docs eating precious presentations–before people will be all, “How silly were we to hand over all of our data to some Server in the Sky.”

You still need software updates because your browser, your OS and your drivers will all ship with bugs that need to get fixed. Do you really want to surf the web without the latest Flash patches?

You still need user accounts and logon protection for your netbook for the same reason that phones do — because otherwise as soon as you lose the thing anyone who picks it up can access all of your saved passwords.

Paring the OS down for faster boot and better perf on low spec hardware is interesting, but Win7 and Mac OS are already doing that. It’s not clear why this new Linux distro should fare better than any of the existing ones in convincing consumers that a moderately faster boot is worth giving up all of the free stuff that they know and love with their existing OS.

Seriously, “cloud computing” has existed for years. Anyone reading this use SalesForce? Cloud computing. Gmail? Cloud computing. Its nothing new, its just a buzz word.

1.) Tired of sharing computing power with other users? Pebble computing puts all the power you want back into your hands, by allowing you to install and run applications directly from your own computer!

2.) Tired of trying to understand which applications must be run while connected to the internet and those that don’t? Pebble computing makes it simple to run all applications directly from your computer while connected to the internet or not!

3.) Tired of paying monthly fees to use software? Pebble computing will put the power back into your hands, by allowing you to install applications directly on to your computer and use them as long as you want!

4.) Tired of your cloud service provider upgrading their services automatically, forcing you to do deal with buggy new software releases? Pebble computing allows you to decide when to update and when not to!

Pebble computing is the future.

http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/07/08/a-third-opinion-on-google-chrome/

JB wrote a perfectly sensible article, which was like a breath of fresh air. Believe me, when it comes to consumer products, its the consumers, and not the critics, who decide the fate.

Has anyone seen the Chrome OS working on a netbook? Is it not a bit overboard to make sweeping predictions at this juncture without having any empirical evidence?

Chrome OS may turn out to be the best thing to have ever happened to humanity, but for that to happen, Chrome OS has to happen first.

Whats happening to you guys? I thought TC was ACTUALLY unbiased. That perception is starting to change.

I like Linux, and I think this new Google OS will have its place – but for some reason I can’t put my finger on, I hate the idea of leaving everything in the cloud. I think part of it is that I don’t like the idea of my personal data existing somewhere out of my reach, and somewhere I have no control over.

My computer blazes through pretty much whatever I throw at it, and I love that. I like having my apps on my computer – I don’t want to be tethered to the internet any more than I already am.

Scott 1, John 0