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sairasie90
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- Feb 20, 2012
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billybobser
Distinguished
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So in summary, it's a value added device, which has it's price increased by quality marketing a la Apple.
When another option is a brazo's laptop and linux. If all you do is browse.
The eeePC back in the day used to come with linux, which was nice for the basic things, but generally anti-user for anything moderate (finding a file/folder), if that is the experience they are after, I don't see why it should cost so much.
When another option is a brazo's laptop and linux. If all you do is browse.
The eeePC back in the day used to come with linux, which was nice for the basic things, but generally anti-user for anything moderate (finding a file/folder), if that is the experience they are after, I don't see why it should cost so much.
eddieroolz
Splendid
- Sep 6, 2008
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ProDigit10
Distinguished
- Nov 19, 2010
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I've never been a fan of chrome books because of the way they use internet traffic and bandwidth for things a local CPU could very easily do!
Using google chrome latops,you're easily using 50-100% more internet bandwidth than using a regular computer.
I think it's ridiculous! Especially when you know that once you pass the 10GB limit, your service provider will start to throttle your connection!
Using google chrome latops,you're easily using 50-100% more internet bandwidth than using a regular computer.
I think it's ridiculous! Especially when you know that once you pass the 10GB limit, your service provider will start to throttle your connection!
blazorthon
Glorious
- Sep 24, 2010
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To be honest, there is nothing a Chromebook can do that a cheaper laptop/netbook can't do. If Windows is too sluggish then replace it with Linux, problem solved without losing much functionality. I have to say that a cheap AMD Llano laptop/netbook with one of many different distributions of Linux would beat a Chrome book more or less in every way. It will be faster, more functional, just as easy to use and maintain (depending on the distribution of Linux), internal storage, and more... I don't see a reason to get a chrome book. Even if I weren't very computer literate, chances are pretty good that I would know someone whom was or I can look up a how to video that shows me how to install and use Linux.
If I couldn't Google a guide, then either I'm pretty stupid and/or I probably don't know how to use the internet either. Isn't the internet the whole selling point of a Chrome book the slogan beings something like "nothing but the web"?
Don't get me worng, the Chrome book is an interesting device, but it doesn't seem to fill it's own pre-designed niche any better than current technology. In fact, it seems to be much worse. I can play several full games on most Linux distributions, including World of Warcraft and several other titles, among many other things I could not do with a Chrome book.
If I couldn't Google a guide, then either I'm pretty stupid and/or I probably don't know how to use the internet either. Isn't the internet the whole selling point of a Chrome book the slogan beings something like "nothing but the web"?
Don't get me worng, the Chrome book is an interesting device, but it doesn't seem to fill it's own pre-designed niche any better than current technology. In fact, it seems to be much worse. I can play several full games on most Linux distributions, including World of Warcraft and several other titles, among many other things I could not do with a Chrome book.
@blazorthon
There is something very important Chromebooks can do that no Windows desktop/laptop can do - and that is the key reason that Chromebooks won the 1:1 education contracts - THEY ARE ZERO MAINTENANCE DEVICES.
Windows desktops and laptop are very expensive to maintain and support as anybody who is involved in desktop maintenance and support will know only too well.
It is fine when you buy your own personal desktop/laptop or are a hobbyist or are willing to spend the time and effort to maintain it for free or get a friend to do it for you, but if you run a school or business, you have to pay IT support staff to do it. Hardware is cheap, but labour is very expensive, and Chromebooks can save you about 2/3rds of your total cost of ownership compared to a Windows desktop solution, and it can lead to massive improvements in productivity due to desktop management and backup tasks being eliminated.
This is what the Chromebook education trials proved and the reason why 1:1 deployments of Windows laptops in schools never took place - they have simply proved not to be viable due to:
1) Windows desktop IT support required being too expensive for the scale of 1:1 deployment
2) Not enough IT staff being available locally to provide Windows desktop for that scale of 1:1 deployment
3) Too much time being spent by teachers of desktop support and management of Windows desktops, leading to low productivity because it leaves teachers with less time to actually teach.
Linux desktops are a little cheaper to maintain because of better stability, but still a lot more than Chromebooks. Even the K12 LTSP + thin client is still more expensive than Chromebooks because a local server needs to be maintained, and provisioning is not as seamless as with Chromebooks. The availability of enough IT staff locally is still a problem.
The possibility of using a K12/Linux app server + Moodle/Blackboard course content server + Windows app server via Citrix with Chromebooks is an interesting option for schools or universities where local applications or content is required as opposed to cloud applications.
There is something very important Chromebooks can do that no Windows desktop/laptop can do - and that is the key reason that Chromebooks won the 1:1 education contracts - THEY ARE ZERO MAINTENANCE DEVICES.
Windows desktops and laptop are very expensive to maintain and support as anybody who is involved in desktop maintenance and support will know only too well.
It is fine when you buy your own personal desktop/laptop or are a hobbyist or are willing to spend the time and effort to maintain it for free or get a friend to do it for you, but if you run a school or business, you have to pay IT support staff to do it. Hardware is cheap, but labour is very expensive, and Chromebooks can save you about 2/3rds of your total cost of ownership compared to a Windows desktop solution, and it can lead to massive improvements in productivity due to desktop management and backup tasks being eliminated.
This is what the Chromebook education trials proved and the reason why 1:1 deployments of Windows laptops in schools never took place - they have simply proved not to be viable due to:
1) Windows desktop IT support required being too expensive for the scale of 1:1 deployment
2) Not enough IT staff being available locally to provide Windows desktop for that scale of 1:1 deployment
3) Too much time being spent by teachers of desktop support and management of Windows desktops, leading to low productivity because it leaves teachers with less time to actually teach.
Linux desktops are a little cheaper to maintain because of better stability, but still a lot more than Chromebooks. Even the K12 LTSP + thin client is still more expensive than Chromebooks because a local server needs to be maintained, and provisioning is not as seamless as with Chromebooks. The availability of enough IT staff locally is still a problem.
The possibility of using a K12/Linux app server + Moodle/Blackboard course content server + Windows app server via Citrix with Chromebooks is an interesting option for schools or universities where local applications or content is required as opposed to cloud applications.
blazorthon
Glorious
- Sep 24, 2010
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@543564
There are much cheaper alternatives that don't need any more maintenance than a Chrome book. You can choose from several Linux distributions that are better and also don't need any more maintenance than Chrome books.
Instead of paying huge premiums for junk hardware, how about getting a regular laptop and using something like Xpud instead of Windows? It's a live Linux CD so it doesn't need any installation and comes with al of the functionality of Chrome OS along with a little more. Just download the ISO, burn it, pop it into the CD/DVD player, and boot into it. Naturally, it is also easily installed to another storage medium like any other Linux if a live CD isn't wanted.
A chrome book is basically just a laptop that more or less only uses an internet connection to do it's work. Xpud can do that too. It comes from a non-rewritable, so any problems would only be the result of physical damage to the storage medium. If the CD, DVD, HDD, etc., is damaged, then it needs to be replaced and all is good to go, unless the rest of the laptop is damaged. If that is the case then it just needs repair or replacement, the Chrome book would be no different.
Data beyond the copy of Xpud doesn't need to be stored locally so replacing the storage medium or the whole computer wouldn't matter. It should be able to do anything and everything that Chrome OS can do.
That seems to be just as zero maintenance as a Chrome book, with increased functionality, increased performance, and at a reduced price. You could also use other Linux distributions too. Anyway, point is that unless Google drops prices, there are simply other alternatives that are just better.
There are much cheaper alternatives that don't need any more maintenance than a Chrome book. You can choose from several Linux distributions that are better and also don't need any more maintenance than Chrome books.
Instead of paying huge premiums for junk hardware, how about getting a regular laptop and using something like Xpud instead of Windows? It's a live Linux CD so it doesn't need any installation and comes with al of the functionality of Chrome OS along with a little more. Just download the ISO, burn it, pop it into the CD/DVD player, and boot into it. Naturally, it is also easily installed to another storage medium like any other Linux if a live CD isn't wanted.
A chrome book is basically just a laptop that more or less only uses an internet connection to do it's work. Xpud can do that too. It comes from a non-rewritable, so any problems would only be the result of physical damage to the storage medium. If the CD, DVD, HDD, etc., is damaged, then it needs to be replaced and all is good to go, unless the rest of the laptop is damaged. If that is the case then it just needs repair or replacement, the Chrome book would be no different.
Data beyond the copy of Xpud doesn't need to be stored locally so replacing the storage medium or the whole computer wouldn't matter. It should be able to do anything and everything that Chrome OS can do.
That seems to be just as zero maintenance as a Chrome book, with increased functionality, increased performance, and at a reduced price. You could also use other Linux distributions too. Anyway, point is that unless Google drops prices, there are simply other alternatives that are just better.
I like the simplicity of the Chromebook, but my god, who at Google approved its initial release should be fired right on the spot! Slower than a netbook, less capable than a netbook and more expensive than a netbook. Smart move! Especially when tablets offer so much more at a reasonable price now. Once the Ultrabooks get down into $500 territory, you can kiss the Chromebook goodbye; another failed Google Beta Venture that costs its customers money this time. Stop giving us the leftover stuff that nobody else wanted, e.g., Intel Atom! Give us a real processor, not some piece of shit useless one from Intel!
blazorthon
Glorious
- Sep 24, 2010
- 14,022
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[citation][nom]FrankNStein[/nom]I like the simplicity of the Chromebook, but my god, who at Google approved its initial release should be fired right on the spot! Slower than a netbook, less capable than a netbook and more expensive than a netbook. Smart move! Especially when tablets offer so much more at a reasonable price now. Once the Ultrabooks get down into $500 territory, you can kiss the Chromebook goodbye; another failed Google Beta Venture that costs its customers money this time. Stop giving us the leftover stuff that nobody else wanted, e.g., Intel Atom! Give us a real processor, not some piece of shit useless one from Intel![/citation]
Atom wasn't so bad when it first came out years ago. The problem is that Intel largely ignored it's market and let it stagnate instead of updating it every year or so like they did on the desktop and notebook markets. AMD has it's netbook Brazos processors that beat Atom significantly, so any new computer with an Atom is a waste, but Atom wasn't always this bad compared to it's competition.
Atom wasn't so bad when it first came out years ago. The problem is that Intel largely ignored it's market and let it stagnate instead of updating it every year or so like they did on the desktop and notebook markets. AMD has it's netbook Brazos processors that beat Atom significantly, so any new computer with an Atom is a waste, but Atom wasn't always this bad compared to it's competition.
@blazorthon
You haven't actually used a Chromebook have you? Chromebooks are Zero Maintenance - no maintenance Zip, Zilch, Nada! Windows is high maintenance. Mac and Linux can be lower maintenance, but still too much for many. Android/iOS is the lowest non-Chromebook maintenance OS, but still requires more configuration, has more security issues that you need to be aware of, and lacks the statelessness of Chromebooks which allows them to be stateless self managing appliances that can be swapped in and out without device configuration. The zero maintenance aspect of Chromebooks has been trialled and proven in the US school selections, that is why Chromebooks won against Windows desktops/netbooks, Apple Macs, iPads (except in kindergartens where the kids are too young to use keyboards), and Linux LTSP systems. In the latter case, you have a low maintenance thin client plus server solution, but it still needs a well qualified IT person to set up the server and maintain/upgrade it. Chromebooks have the same maintenance requirements as the LTSP thin clients (ie. zero maintenance) but don't need the school to provision, configure and maintain a server.
I don't know if you have ever tried a live CD, but the performance is pathetic, and the device is inconvenient to use because it an non cloud OS is set up to store things locally, which means on RAM-disk which you lose when you switch off. You could of course set up a read only live CD image of a Linux OS on an SSD which stores data on the cloud, and you could set it up so that it has a minimal number of applications in an OS image which is maintained by a provider, and arrange for the local OS image to be automatically checked and sync'ed against the image. But then you basically have what a Chromebook.
Ultrabooks don't match Chromebooks 8.5+ hour real battery life without going to around $1000 in price.
Google isn't pricing the Chromebook competitively for the consumer market because they are targetting only early adopters with outright sales (rather than installments). However they are not as overpriced as you are suggesting. The build quality/durability and real use battery life are way above what you will get in the low end Windows laptops or netbooks you are comparing prices with, and the 3G models come with built in 3G with 100MB a month data plan for two years included in the price (with a competitive monthly or daily extra data purchase option). Battery life does cost money unfortunately. That is why people spend $1000 to buy Windows high end Ultrabooks or Macbooks that come close to matching Chromebooks for battery life instead of the $500 Laptops with the same processing power as the Ultrabooks, but with 3.5-4.5 hours real battery life.
You haven't actually used a Chromebook have you? Chromebooks are Zero Maintenance - no maintenance Zip, Zilch, Nada! Windows is high maintenance. Mac and Linux can be lower maintenance, but still too much for many. Android/iOS is the lowest non-Chromebook maintenance OS, but still requires more configuration, has more security issues that you need to be aware of, and lacks the statelessness of Chromebooks which allows them to be stateless self managing appliances that can be swapped in and out without device configuration. The zero maintenance aspect of Chromebooks has been trialled and proven in the US school selections, that is why Chromebooks won against Windows desktops/netbooks, Apple Macs, iPads (except in kindergartens where the kids are too young to use keyboards), and Linux LTSP systems. In the latter case, you have a low maintenance thin client plus server solution, but it still needs a well qualified IT person to set up the server and maintain/upgrade it. Chromebooks have the same maintenance requirements as the LTSP thin clients (ie. zero maintenance) but don't need the school to provision, configure and maintain a server.
I don't know if you have ever tried a live CD, but the performance is pathetic, and the device is inconvenient to use because it an non cloud OS is set up to store things locally, which means on RAM-disk which you lose when you switch off. You could of course set up a read only live CD image of a Linux OS on an SSD which stores data on the cloud, and you could set it up so that it has a minimal number of applications in an OS image which is maintained by a provider, and arrange for the local OS image to be automatically checked and sync'ed against the image. But then you basically have what a Chromebook.
Ultrabooks don't match Chromebooks 8.5+ hour real battery life without going to around $1000 in price.
Google isn't pricing the Chromebook competitively for the consumer market because they are targetting only early adopters with outright sales (rather than installments). However they are not as overpriced as you are suggesting. The build quality/durability and real use battery life are way above what you will get in the low end Windows laptops or netbooks you are comparing prices with, and the 3G models come with built in 3G with 100MB a month data plan for two years included in the price (with a competitive monthly or daily extra data purchase option). Battery life does cost money unfortunately. That is why people spend $1000 to buy Windows high end Ultrabooks or Macbooks that come close to matching Chromebooks for battery life instead of the $500 Laptops with the same processing power as the Ultrabooks, but with 3.5-4.5 hours real battery life.
blazorthon
Glorious
- Sep 24, 2010
- 14,022
- 7
- 43,265
[citation][nom]spm_76[/nom]@blazorthonYou haven't actually used a Chromebook have you? Chromebooks are Zero Maintenance - no maintenance Zip, Zilch, Nada! Windows is high maintenance. Mac and Linux can be lower maintenance, but still too much for many. Android/iOS is the lowest non-Chromebook maintenance OS, but still requires more configuration, has more security issues that you need to be aware of, and lacks the statelessness of Chromebooks which allows them to be stateless self managing appliances that can be swapped in and out without device configuration. The zero maintenance aspect of Chromebooks has been trialled and proven in the US school selections, that is why Chromebooks won against Windows desktops/netbooks, Apple Macs, iPads (except in kindergartens where the kids are too young to use keyboards), and Linux LTSP systems. In the latter case, you have a low maintenance thin client plus server solution, but it still needs a well qualified IT person to set up the server and maintain/upgrade it. Chromebooks have the same maintenance requirements as the LTSP thin clients (ie. zero maintenance) but don't need the school to provision, configure and maintain a server.I don't know if you have ever tried a live CD, but the performance is pathetic, and the device is inconvenient to use because it an non cloud OS is set up to store things locally, which means on RAM-disk which you lose when you switch off. You could of course set up a read only live CD image of a Linux OS on an SSD which stores data on the cloud, and you could set it up so that it has a minimal number of applications in an OS image which is maintained by a provider, and arrange for the local OS image to be automatically checked and sync'ed against the image. But then you basically have what a Chromebook. Ultrabooks don't match Chromebooks 8.5+ hour real battery life without going to around $1000 in price.Google isn't pricing the Chromebook competitively for the consumer market because they are targetting only early adopters with outright sales (rather than installments). However they are not as overpriced as you are suggesting. The build quality/durability and real use battery life are way above what you will get in the low end Windows laptops or netbooks you are comparing prices with, and the 3G models come with built in 3G with 100MB a month data plan for two years included in the price (with a competitive monthly or daily extra data purchase option). Battery life does cost money unfortunately. That is why people spend $1000 to buy Windows high end Ultrabooks or Macbooks that come close to matching Chromebooks for battery life instead of the $500 Laptops with the same processing power as the Ultrabooks, but with 3.5-4.5 hours real battery life.[/citation]
I have tried live CDs that load the entire OS into the RAM (Tinycore comes to mind) and they are the fastest OSs I've ever used so you already lose there. Linux can be zero maintenance if used properly. For example, a live CD that is also zero-maintenance (Tinycore is not, but it is awesome for other reasons, including it's performance and tiny size) that is called xPUD comes to mind. It comes pre-loaded with Wifi and Ethernet support and has a web browser that lets you do anything a Chrome book can do. It is zero-mantaince because it can't be broken. If a problem comes along, you replace it's CD. If that doesn't work, then the computer is damaged and needs replacement. No IT staff necessary to take a CD out of a computer and put in a new one. It's also free so you can get a regular notebook (or other desktop, netbook, etc) and pop in the CD and then restart and let it load into xPUD. It also supports Linux programs and local storage and more so despite it not needing maintenance similar to Chromebooks, it still has more features and a much lower price with more performance, although the performance is arguably not too big of a deal for a school environment.
The live xPUD OS (along with many other live Linux OSs) supports local storage just as well as any standard OS does so storage is not a problem as you seem to think it is. All throughout my schooling that had computers, the notebooks didn't even have good batteries so current schools can deal with it too. Besides, just getting lower power Intel Celerons but keeping the greater batteries wouldn't cost too much, but would still give huge battery times as you like (not that I have a problem with huge battery times, it would be very convenient for students to not need to charge the laptops during school hours at all). You also don't need to sacrifice too much performance too because the Sandy Bridge Celerons are actually pretty fast, at least FAR faster than ANY Atom or even AMD's competing APUs and still use very little power. Use the integrated graphics (it's more than fast enough for this usage) to save even more power compared to many notebooks today.
Anything a Chromebook can do, I can do better with other machines that cost less and have more features without sacrificing the advantages of the Chrome books. I can even do it for a group that needs zero-maintenance devices and such, as stated above this paragraph. Sorry, and no disrespect, but Chromebooks are only for someone who doesn't care to look into this to get a better device at a cheaper price point.
I have personally used xPUD for several months and the only time I had to do anything was when it finally crashed after weeks of being on 24/7 with it's memory near full capacity (not difficult, the laptop only has 2GB of RAM) from too many tabs being used at once for it to handle. Even then, it took it weeks before it crashed and all I had to do was reset the computer. It doesn't take an IT staff to reset a computer either.
I have tried live CDs that load the entire OS into the RAM (Tinycore comes to mind) and they are the fastest OSs I've ever used so you already lose there. Linux can be zero maintenance if used properly. For example, a live CD that is also zero-maintenance (Tinycore is not, but it is awesome for other reasons, including it's performance and tiny size) that is called xPUD comes to mind. It comes pre-loaded with Wifi and Ethernet support and has a web browser that lets you do anything a Chrome book can do. It is zero-mantaince because it can't be broken. If a problem comes along, you replace it's CD. If that doesn't work, then the computer is damaged and needs replacement. No IT staff necessary to take a CD out of a computer and put in a new one. It's also free so you can get a regular notebook (or other desktop, netbook, etc) and pop in the CD and then restart and let it load into xPUD. It also supports Linux programs and local storage and more so despite it not needing maintenance similar to Chromebooks, it still has more features and a much lower price with more performance, although the performance is arguably not too big of a deal for a school environment.
The live xPUD OS (along with many other live Linux OSs) supports local storage just as well as any standard OS does so storage is not a problem as you seem to think it is. All throughout my schooling that had computers, the notebooks didn't even have good batteries so current schools can deal with it too. Besides, just getting lower power Intel Celerons but keeping the greater batteries wouldn't cost too much, but would still give huge battery times as you like (not that I have a problem with huge battery times, it would be very convenient for students to not need to charge the laptops during school hours at all). You also don't need to sacrifice too much performance too because the Sandy Bridge Celerons are actually pretty fast, at least FAR faster than ANY Atom or even AMD's competing APUs and still use very little power. Use the integrated graphics (it's more than fast enough for this usage) to save even more power compared to many notebooks today.
Anything a Chromebook can do, I can do better with other machines that cost less and have more features without sacrificing the advantages of the Chrome books. I can even do it for a group that needs zero-maintenance devices and such, as stated above this paragraph. Sorry, and no disrespect, but Chromebooks are only for someone who doesn't care to look into this to get a better device at a cheaper price point.
I have personally used xPUD for several months and the only time I had to do anything was when it finally crashed after weeks of being on 24/7 with it's memory near full capacity (not difficult, the laptop only has 2GB of RAM) from too many tabs being used at once for it to handle. Even then, it took it weeks before it crashed and all I had to do was reset the computer. It doesn't take an IT staff to reset a computer either.
blazorthon
Glorious
- Sep 24, 2010
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I have an Android and I can honestly say that it is fairly far from zero-maintenance, but I don't have an iOS device so I don't know about it and I'll take your word on that. However, Chrome OS is not the only zero maintenance OS out there and it isn't the best. It also isn't the cheapest.
@blazorthon
No Android/iOs isn't zero maintenance, but it is lower maintenance than fat clients like Windows, MacOS, Linux.
To match Chromebooks' zero maintenance feature, you need a stateless device - ie. a device that stores nothing that changes on the device itself (other than temporarily cached data), and syncs itself to an image on a server. The only OSes that do that now are thin client OSes like Linux LTSP clients, or similar thin systems like Linux systems which sync changes to a thin client disc image from a server - I know RedHat was developing a system like this that used Puppet and disc syncing on boot. This is exactly what Chromebooks do and gives you something equivalent to a Chromebook. The advantage of Chromebooks is that with Chromebooks, Google manages the server side stuff (which is anything but zero maintenance) themselves and gives you a zero maintenance client. Google can of course put more local apps beyond Chrome browser on the Chromebook - eg. LibreOffice, but the more you put on, the more issues there will be with updates breaking things. Hence you shouldn't put any third party apps on the OS image, and you should only put in updates that you can syncronise with OS updates. Therefore Google's approach of only putting in a minimal OS plus browser and some network connectivity apps, and relying on Native Client browser plug-ins to provide local apps is I think the right one for such a device.
If you use ChromiumOS, the open source version of Chromebook's OS, you can get the same auto update and zero maintenance features only if you manage and update your own OS image on a server, and modify the local boot system to check the local image checksum on boot and sync it to the master image on the server if it changes. If you don't do this, then ChromiumOS may be very low maintenance, but isn't really zero maintenance.
No Android/iOs isn't zero maintenance, but it is lower maintenance than fat clients like Windows, MacOS, Linux.
To match Chromebooks' zero maintenance feature, you need a stateless device - ie. a device that stores nothing that changes on the device itself (other than temporarily cached data), and syncs itself to an image on a server. The only OSes that do that now are thin client OSes like Linux LTSP clients, or similar thin systems like Linux systems which sync changes to a thin client disc image from a server - I know RedHat was developing a system like this that used Puppet and disc syncing on boot. This is exactly what Chromebooks do and gives you something equivalent to a Chromebook. The advantage of Chromebooks is that with Chromebooks, Google manages the server side stuff (which is anything but zero maintenance) themselves and gives you a zero maintenance client. Google can of course put more local apps beyond Chrome browser on the Chromebook - eg. LibreOffice, but the more you put on, the more issues there will be with updates breaking things. Hence you shouldn't put any third party apps on the OS image, and you should only put in updates that you can syncronise with OS updates. Therefore Google's approach of only putting in a minimal OS plus browser and some network connectivity apps, and relying on Native Client browser plug-ins to provide local apps is I think the right one for such a device.
If you use ChromiumOS, the open source version of Chromebook's OS, you can get the same auto update and zero maintenance features only if you manage and update your own OS image on a server, and modify the local boot system to check the local image checksum on boot and sync it to the master image on the server if it changes. If you don't do this, then ChromiumOS may be very low maintenance, but isn't really zero maintenance.
blazorthon
Glorious
- Sep 24, 2010
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I already said that I agree with you about Android not being zero-maintenance so you replying again telling me that it isn't after I already said it isn't is stupid.
Any OS can be set up to be synced with a server as you described if you know what you are doing. The only advantage of these Chrome books is that Google does this, but at a cost of performance, flexibility in use, and increased cost for these inferior machines. There is no other advantage for them. There are many ways that the use of the Chrome book can be better done with other systems and for less money.
Chrome books aren't even the only way that this can be done.
Any OS can be set up to be synced with a server as you described if you know what you are doing. The only advantage of these Chrome books is that Google does this, but at a cost of performance, flexibility in use, and increased cost for these inferior machines. There is no other advantage for them. There are many ways that the use of the Chrome book can be better done with other systems and for less money.
Chrome books aren't even the only way that this can be done.
Any client OS can't be synced with a server as you claim. If you tried to do this with a fat client OS where the user can install third party applications, third party drivers, unapproved hardware or even applications or libraries which have a development and release cycle which is not in sync with everything else in the OS, things will break from time to time and would need to be fixed manually. In order for the automatic updates to be seamless, it is necessary to pare down the OS so that what you have is a tightly controlled hardware spec in which every OS image on every device variant supported is identical - in other words a thin client OS.
The other thing you are missing is that the whole purpose of Chromebooks. The server side stuff and the OS image stored on the server does still require maintenance, configuration, and updates, as do the applications. What Chromebooks do is to provide a zero maintenance device for the end user and customer's systems administrator, by moving this effort over to Google and the web application providers. End users and their system administrators who is looking for a zero maintenance experience, won't want to set up, maintain, and update their own server side stuff, their own applications, and their own OS image development and updates - this would be pointless as they might as well use a high maintenance fat client system if they were prepared to accept a high maintenance overhead.
If you want to set up your own server side service rival to Google they good luck to you, since you can download and use Chromium OS, the open source version of Chrome OS as it is open sourced. However economy of scale applies, and you need to be big or have special needs for this to be worthwhile - for example the FBI or Fermi-Labs or a few very large corporations may need to do this for confidentiality or data privacy reasons. What I can't see is individual or other institutional or corporate users who are looking for zero maintenance doing this. Why get a zero maintenance device and then opt for high maintenance server and systems and software update and testing?
The other thing you are missing is that the whole purpose of Chromebooks. The server side stuff and the OS image stored on the server does still require maintenance, configuration, and updates, as do the applications. What Chromebooks do is to provide a zero maintenance device for the end user and customer's systems administrator, by moving this effort over to Google and the web application providers. End users and their system administrators who is looking for a zero maintenance experience, won't want to set up, maintain, and update their own server side stuff, their own applications, and their own OS image development and updates - this would be pointless as they might as well use a high maintenance fat client system if they were prepared to accept a high maintenance overhead.
If you want to set up your own server side service rival to Google they good luck to you, since you can download and use Chromium OS, the open source version of Chrome OS as it is open sourced. However economy of scale applies, and you need to be big or have special needs for this to be worthwhile - for example the FBI or Fermi-Labs or a few very large corporations may need to do this for confidentiality or data privacy reasons. What I can't see is individual or other institutional or corporate users who are looking for zero maintenance doing this. Why get a zero maintenance device and then opt for high maintenance server and systems and software update and testing?
blazorthon
Glorious
- Sep 24, 2010
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[citation][nom]spm_76[/nom]Any client OS can't be synced with a server as you claim. If you tried to do this with a fat client OS where the user can install third party applications, third party drivers, unapproved hardware or even applications or libraries which have a development and release cycle which is not in sync with everything else in the OS, things will break from time to time and would need to be fixed manually. In order for the automatic updates to be seamless, it is necessary to pare down the OS so that what you have is a tightly controlled hardware spec in which every OS image on every device variant supported is identical - in other words a thin client OS. The other thing you are missing is that the whole purpose of Chromebooks. The server side stuff and the OS image stored on the server does still require maintenance, configuration, and updates, as do the applications. What Chromebooks do is to provide a zero maintenance device for the end user and customer's systems administrator, by moving this effort over to Google and the web application providers. End users and their system administrators who is looking for a zero maintenance experience, won't want to set up, maintain, and update their own server side stuff, their own applications, and their own OS image development and updates - this would be pointless as they might as well use a high maintenance fat client system if they were prepared to accept a high maintenance overhead. If you want to set up your own server side service rival to Google they good luck to you, since you can download and use Chromium OS, the open source version of Chrome OS as it is open sourced. However economy of scale applies, and you need to be big or have special needs for this to be worthwhile - for example the FBI or Fermi-Labs or a few very large corporations may need to do this for confidentiality or data privacy reasons. What I can't see is individual or other institutional or corporate users who are looking for zero maintenance doing this. Why get a zero maintenance device and then opt for high maintenance server and systems and software update and testing?[/citation]
There we go... The only advantage of Chrome books is that the server side is managed by Google. Several distributions of Linux are distributed by their own server, so you don't even need to setup your own. For example, Tinycore's site has an FTP server. The only advantage that Google has is that by spending your money on the overpriced, crap hardware Chrome books, you don't need to spend the few minutes it would take to have Tinycore download itself. All it would need to do is download the ISO image from Tinycore's FTP server automatically. How long would it take to set something up to do that? Not long at all. All Google has going for it is that it's customers don't need to spend a few minutes that would otherwise save them money and get them better products. In fact, the customers don't even need to do the work in this case, all they would need to do is ask the devs to do it for them. All that needs to be done is have an app that downloads the most recent version of Tinycore when a new version is released (it could check daily) and replaces the current Tinycore ISO on the hard drive with the new one.
There you have it. You don't need to setup your own server, just setup an app to automatically update tinycore from the FTP server that is already running and is hosted by Tinycore's developers. It's easy and would only need to be done once. Got new machines? Just copy the app onto the hard drives of the new machines (takes less than five seconds) and copy over Tinycore and it's good to go. You could even just have the students that are related to computer science classes and such do it as a project.
There are far more solutions that are even better. Point is, Google's Chrome books are not the only zero or near zero maintenance devices out there.
There we go... The only advantage of Chrome books is that the server side is managed by Google. Several distributions of Linux are distributed by their own server, so you don't even need to setup your own. For example, Tinycore's site has an FTP server. The only advantage that Google has is that by spending your money on the overpriced, crap hardware Chrome books, you don't need to spend the few minutes it would take to have Tinycore download itself. All it would need to do is download the ISO image from Tinycore's FTP server automatically. How long would it take to set something up to do that? Not long at all. All Google has going for it is that it's customers don't need to spend a few minutes that would otherwise save them money and get them better products. In fact, the customers don't even need to do the work in this case, all they would need to do is ask the devs to do it for them. All that needs to be done is have an app that downloads the most recent version of Tinycore when a new version is released (it could check daily) and replaces the current Tinycore ISO on the hard drive with the new one.
There you have it. You don't need to setup your own server, just setup an app to automatically update tinycore from the FTP server that is already running and is hosted by Tinycore's developers. It's easy and would only need to be done once. Got new machines? Just copy the app onto the hard drives of the new machines (takes less than five seconds) and copy over Tinycore and it's good to go. You could even just have the students that are related to computer science classes and such do it as a project.
There are far more solutions that are even better. Point is, Google's Chrome books are not the only zero or near zero maintenance devices out there.
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