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Google To Offer Chrome OS Notebooks For $20/month
An anonymous reader writes "Hot on the heels of the $25 ARM computer, Google is to offer a $20 per month package for students, which includes a Chrome OS laptop (like the Cr-48) and an online component, which will likely include a storage bump for a user's Google Docs, Gmail, Picasa Web, and Google Music files. This would serve two purposes for Google: first, Google will be able to expand its existing user base for Chrome OS. For half the price of a typical cell phone contract, students will be able to pick up a netbook with 3G connectivity. Second, Google will be able to test the package offering publicly prior to eventually adding an enterprise version for Google Apps users."
they will begin offering Angry Birds on Chrome! http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/11/angry-birds-gets-a-web-version-in-google-chrome/
Sure, if you believe you're losing nothing of value by granting Google access to all of your data, as well as a transferable, non-revokable, worldwide license-in-perpetuity to exploit all of your data as they see fit, it'll be totally free.
But honestly, with this plan, you're already granting Google a frightening level of control and access into every facet of your data... and paying them $20 a month for the privilege. I suspect Google will keep charging people a nominal fee, simply because they can.
Wait, no, I meant to say, "Yay Google, everything Google does is for the benefit of mankind because they mouth trite platitudes about not being evil. If they say it, they MUST mean it!"
A basic thinkpad costs around $800
Thinkpads last 7+ years, assuming a useful life of 5 years, cost per year = $160 $20/month
i have a beta cr-48 and haven't used it in months. even my wife rarely uses it anymore unlike her iphone.
it's OK and pretty fast but completely useless unless you have a network connection. ipad runs rings around it in hardware quality and functionality.
I think this has the most value in K12. A lot will depend on support contracts and additional costs, but for a 1:1 program this is a reasonable structure. Many people will compare this to buying a laptop for under $400 that can be used anywhere versus a $240 dollar annual cost for a device that only works over the web. What most people will miss and what will be important for this to work, is reducing the management and maintenance costs of the devices. If you combine the $240 appliance with wireless access at school, administrative control of the device, replacement structures for broken and stolen devices, and the ability to integrate with an LMS, this could be a valuable reduction in costs.
You Canadians build your homes out of snow and drape yourselves in nothing but beaver pelts to stay warm. With no electricity, what in god's name do you need computer network services for, eh?
A $300 netbook that I can use for $0/month! That's right, ladies and gents, zero dollars per month!
And that's not all. It's even capable of storing up to 320 GB of data INSIDE the device itself! How amazing is that? You can carry your data right along with you, and not have to depend on "the cloud" or have problems with their data breeches.
If I keep it for 5 years, that's $1200 saved compared to a $20/month plan. And since I have both 802.11 and a cell phone anyway, I can still get network connectivity anywhere.
It's a damn amazing thing, I tell ya what.
What's Canada?
Is that near China?
Does it have money?
It isn't Google's fault you live in Canada.
This post comes with a double-your-money-back guarantee!
Any offense taken to this post is at your sole discretion.
No. Canada does not need flying moose.
But Moose needs Flying Squirrel!
Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
The second largest nation on earth.
Canada is above the US in every possible way.
Yes, and it is worth more that US currency.
I know you were trying to be funny... Try harder next time.
If I were God, wouldn't I protect my churches from acts of me?
And you were trying to be what? Pedantic?
Very often, people confuse simple with simplistic. The nuance is lost on most. - Clement Mok
Sara Palin can see it from her front yard.
Caveat Utilitor
While I have no doubt that Google's rapacious desire for information rivals the wildest dreams of Honecker and Goebbels combined, all I was saying was that you can't expect anyone making an honest appraisal to ignore the elephant in the room. To do so brings to mind the sort of ridiculous fanboyism you get for the most extreme ideas, where adherents can't stop mentioning the positives but refuse to acknowledge the negatives.
Also, every few years I've returned to /. and created a new UID. I think I first posted around 1998. It used to be way better, but it's still a passable way of engaging in a minute's downtime every so often in the day.
If you're asking "can we talk about Google without talking about reprehensible data mining?" the answer is no. Next question.
Hey, I finally got my first freak! Took you long enough!
The only Godwinning has been done by yourself. Perhaps all geeks are fairly ignorant outside their field and can't think of any dictator except Hitler, so they insultingly simplify the experience of the hundreds of millions who have lived under dictators other than Hitler. Or perhaps it's just you.
By showing how ridiculous the behaviour of fanboys are, akin to cultish followers of an inhumane political philosophy who refuse to see or hear the negative, I appear to have received fairly angry responses. If you really thought my argument was absurd nonsense you'd have just ignored it. But you were annoyed by the suggestion that people leave all sense of balance and reason at the door even when it comes to a particular IT firm, and felt the need to handwave away the possibility without even tackling the accusation directly.
So how about tackling the accusation rather than the person, if you can? Maybe you'll find something about yourself.