When you limit a system in functionality, basically selling a netbook but with less functionality than a netbook, then you will lose sales.
Unless the chrome netbook is significantly cheaper than a netbook, (well below $299) no one with an IQ above 50 will buy it.
cloud computing will never beat a full on OS in terms of reliability and functionality, and responsiveness for light tasks.
For a $300 netbook with a 1.66GHz intel atom, it is easy to dualboot windows xp, ubuntu and even the mac os if you are ok with the lengthy install process.
So far, the chrome netbook seems to offer far fewer features than even a smartphone.
Their site talks about slow bootup times.
my core 2 based laptop boots windows xp in about 17 seconds to a completely usable state where there is no additional loading. If I was to upgrade from the 5400RPM drive to a 7200RPM drive,it would load even faster.
Chrome netbooks are so far useless. while web browsing and web apps can be good, people want more than that. would you buy a iphone if the only features it offered was a web browser and a phone feature and 100% nothing else (other than the option to use web apps?