Google Releases Chrome OS Tablet Concept Demo 237
MojoKid writes "With all of the iPad buzz stirring up the tech world over the past couple of weeks, Chrome OS has almost been forgotten. Though Google has yet to officially release the netbook-centric operating system to the public, the company continues to keep details flowing about their forthcoming lightweight operating system. In their own response to all the recent tablet fanfare, Google decided to release some teaser shots and a demo video of the Chrome OS running on a concept tablet device. The Chromium team suggests that a screen of 5" to 10" is optimal for enjoying Chrome OS and of course tablets, netbooks and MIDs all fit that size class rather well. Couple a streamlined Google-based OS with NVIDIA's Tegra 2 processor in a design like this and the iPad could have serious competition."
iPad buzz? (Score:5, Interesting)
I haven't seen any actual buzz, as in people genuinely talking about it.
I have see, press releases, astro-turfing, slashvertisements, and spam.
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lots of people have interest in the ipad, but that doesn't mean purchasing or even positive interest. Just "hmm, something interesting from apple - lets look up more info".
This is a result of the hype and the ipad underwhelming in general.
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Considering how Jobs got the idea for iPad [yfrog.com], it's no surprise.
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Well obviously the hardcore fanboys lapped up the apple PR, but most people, including hitler were pretty underwhelmed.
I was pretty underwhelmed as well, which is why I have no intention of buying one.
A Marketing Shark Feeding Frenzy (Score:5, Funny)
the iPad could have serious competition
Once Apple has figured out to whom this is being marketing.
The whole Apple-Yahoo-MS-Google circle jerk posturing is delirious. If next week Steve Jobs called a press conference and sliced his dick off with a silver scalpel in a room full of stunned reporters, I have no doubt that -- not to be outdone -- Sergey Brin would cut off his with a chainsaw on nation-wide TV seven days later.
And no one in the tech punditry -- all happy just to have jobs and something to write about besides the latest PC graphics card -- would question *WHY* these idiots are emasculating themselves, they'd just write tedious "thought" pieces contrasting the metaphors of Job's elegant, shiny castration versus Brin's use of loud horsepower.
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And no one in the tech punditry -- all happy just to have jobs and something to write about besides the latest PC graphics card -- would question *WHY* these idiots are emasculating themselves, they'd just write tedious "thought" pieces contrasting the metaphors of Job's elegant, shiny castration versus Brin's use of loud horsepower.
I think they would do it for the lulz...at least I hope so, because that's what they would be providing. In excess.
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Ah, so you're one of those lucky saps that doesn't have any Apple controlled friends.
I've seen buzz (Score:2)
Right here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eF0y0IfpPU
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The buzz is: that's buzz. (The economy's not doing so hot, so marketing folks will take what they can get.)
Oh boy more marketing! (Score:5, Insightful)
In response to Apple's iPad announcement, Google proved that it could draw a tablet and post it on the web.
My point being that maybe there is something more interesting than tablets. We already know that we'll see a fresh batch of articles on tablets / iPad in about 60 days.
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Ugh, another virtual keyboard... (Score:2, Interesting)
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So why do you care enough comment on a form factor that doesn't have a physical keyboard?
There are plenty of devices with keyboards and they aren't going away.
Re:Ugh, another virtual keyboard... (Score:5, Funny)
Why do you care enough to respond to a post that you disagree with?
There are plenty of people you are going to disagree with and they aren't going away.
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I don't disagree. In fact I like physical keyboards over large touch screens. I just don't see the "have to use" part as making sense.
And you messed up the analogy. Mine was X and !X, yours is X and X and hence makes absolutely no sense.
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I agree with you, I despise virtual keyboards. In fact, the lack of a physical keyboard is the primary thing that prevented me from buying an iPhone (I have an HTC Ozone).
That being said, this is a Tablet...it isn't supposed to have an actual keyboard -_-;;
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It's better then a stylus though. I have an HP tc1100 and while it has a detachable keyboard I
tend to use it without that. Almost everything I need to do is fine because I generally just
use it for reading but at those odd times when I want to do something on it that requires
typing, and I'm too lazy to get up and find the keyboard, I would rather use something like the
v-keyboard in the video then the tiny on screen keyboard and stylus combo.
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You can't tell from the photo, but that keyboard doesn't even have an escape key... instead it's a special "home" key that does the same thing as the home button on the iphone.
That'll hurt us vim-users.
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Unfortunately it is a barely real keyboard unlike most keyboards
Can you not plug in a keyboard of your choosing?
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And I hate physical keyboards on devices where the keys are so small my finger covers five at a time. I hate the wasted real-estate that could've instead been used for a bigger screen, and therefore a bigger screen-keyboard with almost proper-sized key-contact-patches.
I hate them even more when they waste space making a "full" qwerty keyboard half the size of a deck of cards. I'm a touch-typist, and such things feel like a cruel joke at my expense. If you must have a physical keyboard of that size, put s
multiple windows (Score:2)
The video shows 2 windows open. Probably best not to have multiple apps sharing the same screen.
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Monster screen size in the video! (Score:5, Insightful)
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Now picture this.. a low-horsepower tablet that is convertible into a wireless LCD touch-screen monitor for your high-horsepower desktop computer.
Jeff Han (Score:2)
Jeff Han did this four years ago:
http://www.ted.com/talks/jeff_han_demos_his_breakthrough_touchscreen.html [ted.com]
He now has a company spun off from his research at NYU:
http://www.perceptivepixel.com/ [perceptivepixel.com]
I'll use this opportunity to make a larger point: you're not going to get much progress out of the corporate game of developing a product. The difference is in these two questions:
1. What is possible to sell?
2. What is possible?
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Not sure if I care (Score:3, Insightful)
I realize this entire discussion will probably devolve into a GNU/Free versus Closed argument, or a Mac Lovers versus Mac Haters flamefest, but...
Having watched the demo video, I'm not convinced. This really just seems like another Tablet PC, except it's running Chrome OS instead of Windows XP. The demoed functionality is almost exactly like the application switcher that's available in both PC and Mac (alt+tab cmd+tab), and the resizing functions just use your fingers instead of a mouse pointer. Personally I think that's an issue - I'd rather use a mouse for most of that functionality.
I know there are some people that mock the iPad because it's not running a tablet-ized version of the full OS X; but when I see demos like this, it just reminds me of why Tablet PCs never escaped their niche. For a lot of typical desktop functionality, it is easier to use a mouse. There's no compelling reason making me wish to be able to do those exact same functions using my fingers. It's not that those Tablet PCs were running Windows - it's because they offered no compelling reason to exist for most of us!
Now, hopefully Google will have some additional tricks up its sleeve, and there'll be a reason to care beyond "it's running Linux". And I do believe competition is a rising tide that lifts all boats (yup, I'm pulling out the cliches now). But hopefully Google has studied the past and will try to look at why the Tablet PC never really made it, rather than just duplicate the same mistakes Microsoft made.
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I think this is what both Apple and Google are doing. Apple could easily have released a tablet that ran retail OS X with some extra touch screen function built in, but they chose to scale up the iPhone/iPod Touch and go that way. I don;t know if it will be at all successful, but I think it has more of a chance than if it was a tablet with a desktop OS running on it - there are a fair number of those already, and they're hardly setting the world on fire. They are very useful in niche markets, but beyond tha
Serious Competition (Score:3, Insightful)
Must have apps. (Score:4, Insightful)
Web apps just don't cut it Google. Apple found that out with the iPhone, Palm has learned that with the Pre. People want to have stuff that runs even when there is no internet even if it is just a game.
We also want to carry some media with us so if we are stuck on a plane with no WiFi or anyplace with no WiFi or 3G we can watch or listen to something.
Stop working on the Chrome OS and improve Android or just go right to a tablet Linux.
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Absolutely. If I can't use it when I'm in a lab at work (electrically noisy racks)... or for that matter a restroom near it... I'm not going to buy into it.
You can't do EVERYTHING in the cloud. The whole idea is so 1974.
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http://gears.google.com/ [google.com]
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Still limited to Javascript+Html. Actually they are dropping Gears and going to HTML 5 which is supposed to have some kind of storage model.
Just limiting it to a single language is bad enough but Javascript?
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http://pyjs.org/ [pyjs.org]
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Still converts to JS.
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In case you haven't heard, Google has deprecated Gears in favor of the HTML5 wunderkind.
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Uh.. with google gears you don't need a constant internet connection, you don't need a connection at all. I use gears on my netbook and I can still read/compose emails, read my google reader, make new and modify docs/spreadsheets all without an internet connection.
No competition (Score:2)
Ok, so iPad isn't even out yet, but google still feels threatened enough to put out a hastly put together "concept art" as a "demo". Sheesh.
One thing everyone seems to have missed about the iPad announcement is the fact that apple will have iWorks on it for $30. This has two implications:
1. Nobody else will write a full on office app for iPad.
2. Nobody will write a full office app for any other touch tablet.
Chew on that for a while.
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I don't think I see how the second implication is being... implied?
If Open Office can run on Chrome - how hard would it be to make a tablet Port? Would those who write OO not be interested in this? Or whatabout our friends at Microsoft, who are giving away licenses for MS office in the hopes to keep their hold of office applications as tight as possible?
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Ok, so iPad isn't even out yet, but google still feels threatened enough to put out a hastly put together "concept art" as a "demo". Sheesh.
On the original chromium page the video is listed as uploaded on the 25th of January. If I am not mistaken that is two days before Apple's iPad event.
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Ok, so iPad isn't even out yet, but google still feels threatened enough to put out a hastly put together "concept art" as a "demo". Sheesh.
One thing everyone seems to have missed about the iPad announcement is the fact that apple will have iWorks on it for $30. This has two implications:
1. Nobody else will write a full on office app for iPad.
2. Nobody will write a full office app for any other touch tablet.
Chew on that for a while.
Wrong on both counts. Well #1 is kind of true, but that's only because Apple bans competing applications. #2 is just plain wrong, because the full Office 2007 runs on touch tablets.
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Chew on that for a while.
I chewed on it for a couple seconds, and what I came up with is that Chrome OS is based on Linux and X11, so nobody has to develop an office suite for Chrome OS; you can just run OpenOffice.
Chew on *this*.
The IPad's going to have competition? (Score:5, Funny)
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You mean like Flash and Silverlite?
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Well, give those a name so strikingly similar to a feminine hygiene product that even my nine year old makes the association, then only allow one instance of them at a time... wait no... no, only allow one instance of other stuff because those won't be supported, throw an ungainly dongle here and there, and then yes. Yes - that's exactly what I mean.
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Yawn (Score:2)
Five to ten inches? Thanks, but I'll pass.
Is it just me, or is there anyone else out there who wants a big tablet instead of some small, sleek, fashionable, and largely useless piece of overpriced tech trinketry? At this point, I'm about to pick up an old Thinkpad on eBay and make one myself -- and still probably come out cheaper than the latest and greatest. And no, I don't need a touch screen. I'd be perfectly content to mount a few programmable keys down one side and the Trackpoint hardware on the other.
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Five to ten inches? Thanks, but I'll pass.
Size queen.
All I want to do is be able to read PDFs in color and at a reasonable scale.
There are numerous tablet PCs which do this already. You can pick them up used for around four hundred bucks. Still pretty spendy, I admit, but they do exist, in sizes up to 15" or so. Not having a touch screen, however, is crazy talk. I'd really like a wacom-equipped LCD tablet myself; I wouldn't even mind having to use the stylus, given its incredible increase in functionality over a touch screen.
Google Maps Mobile (Score:2)
I've been playing with android-x86 on my eeepc. It's nice, but doesn't seem to have any applications.
Mostly I'm interested in getting Google Maps Mobile running on it... it's the only thing I really miss from having a Blackberry. Is there any way of getting Google Maps Mobile on a laptop / netbook?
I don't really care for an Android / iPhone / Blackberry / Symbian device and accompanying data plan just to get gmm going... it would be nice to get gmm running on a larger netbook running it and tether it to
Apple is doomed! (Score:2)
Hah! They're in the middle of their tablet disaster and meltdown and now here come Google. It's gonna' be Godzilla vs that fisherman guy on the beach outside of Tokyo. Or Bambi.
Stoopid Apple, they should never released a tablet now that Google has theirs out.
What the tablet format needs... (Score:5, Funny)
I've been thinking about this tablet format, and I think it's got a few limitations.
For a start, you've got to hold it up or prop it against something while you use it. So, how's this for an idea... give it a hinged lid that can be used to protect the screen and as a stand when it's open. Better yet - if you've got the hinged bit at the front, why not put a physical keyboard in there to save screen space and for easier typing.
Wonder if anyone's come up with any products like that?
Small hands demo (Score:4, Funny)
Did anyone else notice in the demo video that the hands on the person were freakishly small? I think Google is trying to tell us something:
ChromeOS is not for manhands.
That's right folks. Forget your hopes and dreams of manhandling the ChromeOS, this OS isn't for you. It's designed and built for those with small hands. Midgets, small children, and perhaps rodents will be able to use it. But not manhands.
Draw your own conclusions. I think that googlers are looking for people who have small hands, like women. Then the googlers will have a source of information on available women with which they can actually take on a date. It's quite an ingenious plan.
sad, sad, demo? (Score:3, Insightful)
i have swallowed the google pill for sure, but that demo just makes me sad. for goodness sake, there are already companies with *real* android tablets and many of them were demoed at CES. why did google feel the need to put together shoddy youtube video showing a fake tablet running a mocked up OS?
why don't they just spend a few more dollars to make people aware of the awesome android tablets that are already announced? for example, the vega tablet,
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/11/vega-tablet-beats-apple-and-crunchpad/ [wired.com]
and the MSI tablet,
http://phandroid.com/2010/01/29/msi-android-tablet-harmony/ [phandroid.com]
Re:Too much lockdown! (Score:4, Insightful)
How soon people forget ... "Embrace, extend, extinguish."
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This has been especially helpful for the developers of apps that contain trojans, not to mention the drive-by-download virus writers.
What exactly are you smoking?
Re:Too much lockdown! (Score:4, Insightful)
This has been especially helpful for the developers of apps that contain trojans, not to mention the drive-by-download virus writers.
So do you instead prefer fully-locked-down, all apps from our App Store PC's? Do you prefer a fully-locked-down environment and living in a police nation to save you from those who abuse the freedom?
It's funny that people always complain about DRM, locked-down consoles and proprietary standards and want more open and free, but when it's about Apple then it doesn't matter anymore. btw, you can blame Apple for HTML5 video never going to happen - they're pushing hard towards H.264, which is never going to be reality for Firefox because it can't be distributed in the source code.
What exactly are you smoking?
Why do you think it's so out of the question? Apple is already doing it on every other device they have, and it's good market for them.
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Wow... exaggerate much? App store to police state?
I can see where a locked down, "trusted" source for apps can be useful in certain situations. I think my parents would have a much easier time with an iPad versus a laptop. I, however, have no use for such a thing as I require the flexibility a laptop gives
Re:Too much lockdown! (Score:5, Insightful)
Wow... exaggerate much? App store to police state? .
That's not that big of an exaggeration. See here: http://www.juggleware.com/blog/2008/09/steve-jobs-writes-back/ [juggleware.com]
FreedomTime was a app that displayed a countdown till the next president was elected. It was banned by Apple for being too political.
The developers email:
Dear Steve,
A quick note to let you know what kinds of apps are being rejected for the App Store.
This app is not defamatory, harmful or speaking untruth. It is lighthearted and humorous. Does it imply critique? Of course it does, but not without crossing any lines of decency or the boundaries agreement.
For a quick screen shot:
http://www.juggleware.com/iphone/freedomtime/ [juggleware.com]
Sincerely,
Alec Vance
juggleware llc
His Steveness' reply:
Even though my personal political leanings are democratic, I think this app will be offensive to roughly half our customers. What’s the point?
Steve
That's only of many examples, which include political caricatures etc. etc.
So while you play with your shiny phone, freedom is being trampled.. and even the tech savvy Apple Slashdotters are not even aware of it..or maybe they're busy brushing them under the carpet while making and modding up posts that rationalize Apple. Just think of the mom and pop types that get an iPhone because everyone else has it, no one will care, while developer freedom is lost. This is Microsoft's wet dream.. and Apple is realizing it.
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Its not that no one knows, its that no one cares.
Not everyone agrees with your idea of useful, and it is their store.
Do you bitch that walmart doesn't sell music with explicit lyrics? Are you even aware of that?
Of course they aren't the only place to buy music, but they were until recently the largest source.
The reason no one cares about that little app being rejected is well ... it had no significant value.
The percentage of rejected apps for any reason is so small its hardly worth noting that apps get rej
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Do you prefer a fully-locked-down environment and living in a police nation to save you from those who abuse the freedom?
If so, move to the UK. We're doing our best, and we'll get there soon.
</flippant>
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Yea, its not like they can just opt to make a closed source plugin or anything ... this is a bullshit excuse, and considering how little momentum Firefox has at the moment, I wouldn't even worry if its not supported.
If your licensing model prevents you from working with other software then its your problem. If ever
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I don't have some OSS philosophy either. The reason I mentioned why H.264 is not much use for Firefox is because of all the forks of it.
Mozilla License indeed does allow putting in closed source code, but they obviously cannot release that proprietary code as open source. This means only the official Firefox will be able to use H.264 - any Linux, Mac OS X, FreeBSD or other fork in Windows will not be able to do so. Not that I care that much, I use Opera (though they're against H.264 too and want to use Ogg,
Re:Too much lockdown! (Score:5, Insightful)
There is no way the iPhone app model will be used in OS X - just what evidence do you have that it will? Apple released a slew of new OSS features in Snow Leopard, with GCD and OpenCL being chief among them, and have encouraged developers to use them. Why do that if they are going to limit OS X?
The iPhone and iPad are designed around a different software model, to be more like appliances - it doesn't mean OS X will go this way, not even "likely" - I would put a [citation needed] response on that one, it is so absurd.
As to taking "many months" to get your app on the store... again, [citation needed].
How long does it take to get an app into the iTunes App Store? While we’ve seen some estimates of up to 20 days to have your app approved, we’ve had apps accepted in as few as five.
from my first google hit: http://mashable.com/2009/06/10/build-iphone-app/ [mashable.com]
If you do not like Apple's model, you are free to *not buy into it* and instead buy an Android device, or some other competing product. It's not like Apple are the only player here. There are many ways to skin a cat, and Apple's "one gatekeeper" approach works extremely well for them, and no one is forcing you to take part (unless you want an iPhone, but want to do something else with it, but then... why buy the iPhone in the first place - buy a Nexus One or something).
Let me just repeat - Apple's model for OS X is totally, completely separate from the iPhone. They are not going to put iPhone OS on Macs and control the software you use on it. All evidence so far suggests they are in fact, opening up OS X a little more than before, starting at an OSS level for some of their new core technologies rather than opening them up later (or keeping them closed source), they support the installation of pretty much anything you can port over, and they don't make it difficult - the dev tools are free, and they provide an X window system if you don't want to (or can't due to various reasons) rewrite the UI to be native. They have a thriving third party commercial software industry going, much like Windows does, and there is no reason to change that.
By your logic, the Xbox OS is pretty locked up, so that must mean that "the next version of windows" is "likely" to be all closed up as well, with MS having to approve all software you install on it, and only being able to buy apps for Windows via Xbox Live, right? Seems very likely.
Re:Too much lockdown! (Score:5, Interesting)
That's real cute, but what irks me, as an iPhone user, is that this fancy shmancy app submission process does nothing to ensure quality. Every goddamned week I see hundreds of those "daily babe" apps, all seemingly made by the same 3rd-world developer slapping new pics on his 99 cent app. You're trying to convince me someone actually reviews these submissions ? If I want suggestive imagery on my iphone, I can get them off the web like everyone else, no need for a freaking ad-riddled app.
The app store review process is all about Apple's selfish interests. It offers a false air of legitimacy to any apps hosted therein, and by that sole trait I consider it a fraud.
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No, I'm not making an objective or even subjective assessment of the quality of the system, just that people can choose to avoid it by not buying an iPhone.
My actual assessment of the one gatekeeper approach is that there really isn't a lot of benefit, beyond removal of the most obvious of scam/malware apps. There are a hundred "fart noise" apps, and "iPhone torch!" apps that just make your screen go white.
Even with those, however, Apple's system is working for them - the iPhone is selling like hot cakes, a
Re:Too much lockdown! (Score:4, Informative)
Apple's [user experience] model for OS X is totally, completely separate from the iPhone
Agreed, 110%, however what a lot of people don't realize, at least those that aren't iPhone or Mac OS X developers, is that the iPhone OS and core Mac OS X share over 80% of their source code [Apple WWDC'09]. You also use the same tools and many of the frameworks to develop apps (in Objective-C, C and/or C++) for either platform. It is plausible to have the same code base and then change a build target to create a Mac OS X or iPhone version of a product.
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I agree (although I had an arguement on /. yesterday about whether the iPhone ran OS X at all), but the original assertion by the GP was that because the iPhone OS is all locked up, with single app purchase point that Apple will "likely" make the next version of OS X this way, which is just totally not going to happen.
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On the second point, I agree - and jailbreaking is a pretty big community. Apple hasn't gone after people who jailbreak their phones, in the same way they haven't gone after (individual) people who make hackintoshes, or the people who promote the EFI tools that make it possible. I'm an enormous Apple fan, but I end run around them all the time - mostly by doing my own hardware work on their "welded shut" computers, and I'm sure they don;t mind. Sure they want me to send the powerbook back to them to have a
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Now I don't understand where Google comes with this, since as I understand you're allowed to run anything you want on Android.
Chrome is Google's PC/Mac/Linux Browser.
Android is Google's phone OS.
ChromeOS is Google's new idea - its a stripped down Linux-based OS that only runs the Chrome browser. The idea is that you run everything via the "cloud" - if you want to write an app for ChromeOS you write it in AJAX and stick it on a server (which means it will most likely run just as happily on the iPad, Android or a PC running Chrome browser). Of course, Google would prefer you to use Google's cloud apps, and the first thing ChromeOS
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Now I don't understand where Google comes with this, since as I understand you're allowed to run anything you want on Android
android != chrome OS (today anyway, it might in the future).
Re:Too much lockdown! (Score:5, Insightful)
I haven't missed that point. My point is, maybe it's not good that Apple is all of hardware company, software company and a marketplace, having vested interest in locking down their devices, locking down their software, and strictly controlling all of it via their App Store (which generates them even more money)
MS develops the OS and lets other companies to develop the hardware, and then lets other developers to freely develop application and games for it. In my point of view, that is more open, free and better environment.
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Darn you Apple and your computing monopoly. Darn you to HECK!
Re:Too much lockdown! (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, MS is a software company... and yet, they don't lock down any of the software options within their operating systems.
Yet, when you run their operating systems (including mobile variants of windows), in any form, MS does not prevent you from using a competitor's software within that OS. Apple, however does restrict you.
If Apple is a "hardware" company, then why do they restrict competing applications.
Because they are not a hardware company, they are either a package company - wanting to sell you on the whole deal, hardware and software, or they are a PR company, more concerned with convincing you to buy something, than with the actual nature product. It depends on your view of the company as to which category fits them best...
Re:Too much lockdown! (Score:5, Insightful)
You've completely missed the point that Apple is a hardware company, whereas MS is a software company. Of course MS doesn't try to lock you out of "their devices" since the devices aren't MS's in the first place. You can "install anything you want" on OS X, and there are plenty of other phones that are locked down--heck, my Motorola phones were MORE locked down than any iPhone, since there was no way to install software except OTA.
How's the weather up there in Redmond, anyway?
If Apple is a hardware company what do they have to gain from banning Opera, Firefox, Chrome and political apps that Steve doesn't like from the iPhone and iPad? It's all about control and that nice 30% forcible cut of every non free app.
We're talking about the iPad too, which is being hailed as a tablet computer, not phone. The point is that MS could've locked developers out of MS-DOS and Windows by banning competing applications and those that 'duplicate functionality' or leeched off them by forcibly taking 30% of cost of AutoCAD etc.
It's funny you call him a paid shill while being ready to whore for free.
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Because they want to control what goes onto there hardware to ensure it meets their standards.
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I'm just wondering if the money gained from the crapware that is installed on new computers is enough of a subsidy to offset the Microsoft tax.
For example, if Microsoft charges OEMs $50, but the OEMs also manage to get $50
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Maybe it's because it is in the video (which I can't view at work)...but where are you seeing lockdown with this device? From what I read in TFA, I didn't see anything that implied you would be restricted to Google-approved programs...
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I was one of those people who complained about the iPad...but I was complaining because the iPhone OS restricts what you can install based on what Apple has approved to appear in the App store, not because it isn't a "full" OS (although that would be nice).
There is no such restriction with Google's OS, even though it too is a stripped down operating system. I can live with the reduced functionality, but not with being told what I can or can't install on my device.
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You are either trolling or just amazingly obtuse. The unlocked iPhone (and presumably, iPad) actively restricts what software you may install to the device. You need to jailbreak before the software will run. So far, there is no evidence that any Chrome OS devices released from Google will put any more impediment to your installing a package manager and installing any Linux/X11 apps (Chrome OS is Linux+X11+Chrome+A custom window manager, period the end) of your choice.
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Assuming they follow a similar plan to the Android phones, I don't see a problem. I can install any software I want on my phone (Settings->Applications->Unknown Sources), including overwriting the operating system. There are certain kinds of programs that I agreed not to run when I signed up with my service provider, but that doesn't have anything to do with the device.
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I do hate the full integration with Google accounts and services though, I don't want to login to my Google account just to use my phone (and save all the information and possibly GPS position and so on at Google's servers). I can just boot my Windows Mobile, type PIN and it doesn't try to integrate me in to any other bullshit or be in constant contact with MS servers.
Yeah you could get the source, but it's pain in the ass to set up the environment and even then you don't have the drivers and stuff for your
Re:Too much lockdown! (Score:4, Informative)
What nerds don't get is that most people don't care about "user's freedom." They're happy to buy a controlled but stable device that lets them browse the web.
AppleTV failed because it wasn't open; it can only play content from the iTunes store, or painstakingly transcoded files. People would rather use devices that are convenient, which implies a certain amount of give and take with the user's needs (see XBox 360 and the PS3). People will want to listen to Pandora while using other applications, and if the iPhone/iPad OS4 still has a single-tasking mentality, it will be fundamentally broken, just like AppleTV is. Ditto with receiving instant messages while playing a game or browsing the web; OS3 can only do that on the 3G network. The iPhone was enough of a revolution for people to see past these faults (heck, I own one); but when the competition starts in earnest Apple will need to adjust.
People aren't as stupid as you seem to believe.
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Do you drive a stick-shift
Yes. Why?
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What nerds don't get is that most people don't care about "user's freedom." They're happy to buy a controlled but stable device that lets them browse the web.
Except that when they see that for less money they can buy a netbook with the same size screen that lets them do a hell of a lot more then browse the web, a lot of people will stop and think "why the hell should I get this?" The only people I know planning on buying the iPad (and before the details were released, I was very eager for it as well) are the diehard Macolytes who would buy and eat Steve Job's shit as long as it was called iShit and branded with the Apple logo. Everyone else has said "the funct
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What nerds don't get is that most people don't care about "user's freedom." They're happy to buy a controlled but stable device that lets them browse the web.
Many oppressed people aren't aware of it, either. Example: living in the USA. Living here, I have far more freedoms than most of the world, but since my government has the capability to spy on just about everything I do, I'm just living in a really big, well furnished cage. A well furnished cage is still a cage.
Do you add and remove components of your car's dashboard?
Not my current car, because I'm keeping it relatively close to stock, but in the past yes. I have installed different gauges to read various pressures and display that the stock dash doesn't moni
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What nerds don't get is that most people don't care about "user's freedom." They're happy to buy a controlled but stable device that lets them browse the web.
That is not yet clear. Nobody has sold a device limited to web browsing yet. Or if they have, they've not been very successful. Even Apple recognized the need to allow the development of actual applications for the iPhone, which was not the original plan.
Do you add and remove components of your car's dashboard?
Yes. All my vehicles have aftermarket stereo systems. I even added a custom in-dash screen to my Impreza. My F250 has an aftermarket pyrometer and boost gauge.
Do you drive a stick-shift, or do you let the computer in the car change gears for you?
Yes. My Subaru has an automatic, but they were kind enough to provide a manual mode in which it wi
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I'm more concerned that Google is becoming a "jack of all trades and master of none".
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Would you rather they spin off different company names for these side-projects, instead of taking them all under the Google brand ?
They nailed search, then went looking for the next frontier. This is what they DO. This is what most intellectually-minded people do, they figure something out, then move on to a new challenge, building upon their accrued knowledge. If you stop trying the moment you've mastered something, you're deadweight.
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So you assert they mastered voice communications, web applications, and web browsers and are ready to move ahead into OS development and Mobile applications...
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No.
"Linux" is a kernel. It does only one thing.
"GPL" is a license, it does only one thing.
"GNU/Linux" is a fabrication of RMS that has a single task of giving the GNU foundation the illusion of being directly involved with the kernel development.
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"GNU/Linux" is a fabrication of RMS that has a single task of giving the GNU foundation the illusion of being directly involved with the kernel development.
Quite the opposite. Just as TCP/IP means "TCP using IP as the next layer down", GNU/Linux means "GNU using Linux as the next layer down".
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How about legal-format size - 8.5 x 14 (a 17" laptop is 9 x 14.5) - turn it sideways and it's almost perfect for hd widescreen format viewing without letterboxing. More than one person can look at it at a time, any virtual keyboard could be almost full-sized, and still leave more half the screen in landscape mode, more room for heat dissipation through the housing, for a webcam, usb connectors, flash card
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THAT would sell, but why stop at legal? Tabloid size WOULD sell twice as much!
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If tabloid size sells twice as much, then broadsheet will sell eleventy times more!
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There was once another computer named Adam. After release it quickly became known as Coleco's "Adam Bomb"
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