Oh Chrome OS, Wherefore art thou Chrome OS?
Posted on 12. Sep, 2010 by Julien Cadot in Features
It’s quite difficult to be a second born child operating system of such a mother named Google. People are always asking “why are they developing two operating systems?” or “why have Chrome OS when Google TV, smartphones and tablets are using Android?”
Well, I’m one of these people, and I’ve asked myself these questions. Here are my strictly subjective answers.
Android = Smartphone.
I’ve used Android for 2 years, and I’m not going to change that. But why did Android seduce me? Because it was an alternative to iOS. I could have bought a Blackberry or a Windows Mobile device, but they were not what I was looking for.
Android is open, it is simple and you can do normal things as well as geek stuff with it. But thinking about it, my feeling is that Android is made to run on smartphones. What could you do with a notification bar on your desktop computer? And if it is not tactile, are you going to drag it with your mouse? We don’t need that on a computer.
Now let’s see, what do we need? Specifically a file explorer, an internet browser, a media player, and some programs to work or play would be nice. Android has an internet browser and a Market. We have to use the Android Market to install applications, to browse our applications, to launch applications, but hey, what’s the point in having an application launcher on a computer (no offense Mac users). Shortcuts and taskbars do that perfectly well.
The only thing I find useful in Android for a 7 to 10 inch tablet or netbook is the multiple home screens. It’s always good to have more space to organize our stuff. However, a lot of Linux builds already have this, and there is a chance for that to be added to Chrome OS.
An e-reader…
Chrome OS = everything else.
I recently went to a press meeting to see new Samsung products, and of course they had the Galaxy Tab. I wrote an article on this tablet for Android-France.fr, but you can sum up my article in one phrase: the Galaxy Tab is a big Galaxy S. A bit ironic when you remember people saying that the iPad was a big iPhone without phone features: you can call people with your Galaxy tab if you don’t mind being ridiculous.
Samsung, we promise we won’t tell Apple you stole from them the phone-to-tablet idea.
All of this makes me think that a computer OS is a better way to run tablets. Imagine a tactile and customized version of Chrome OS, with a direct access to the Chrome Web Store, Google Docs, Google Music, a media player, e-books. Along with these are everything else that Android does not have like a file explorer, libraries, a real settings menu and even USB drivers for your favorite keyboard and mouse .
When I played with the Galaxy Tab, it did everything my Nexus One could do. And I don’t want my tablet to be a bigger version of my phone. Samsung has said that developers like Gameloft or 7 Digital were designing special apps for the Galaxy Tab, but what is the point when everyone can have all of these apps with a browser, as long as they are powered by Flash, Java and HTML5?
Last but not least: Google has said recently that the current version of Android wasn’t meant to run on tablets, so I don’t think I’m the only one thinking this way. Google’s answer is Android 3.0, also known as Gingerbread, but I hope that companies will have the courage to produce a real tablet based on Chrome OS.
They would have at least one customer.
Julien Cadot is a regular contributor to Chrome OS France.
4 Responses to “Oh Chrome OS, Wherefore art thou Chrome OS?”
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d-d
12. Sep, 2010
I see it that way – Android is primarily for communication and media consumption, and not for work.
Your finger or your voice is enough to use it.
Which also means that Andoid fits pretty well in tablets category, not just smartphones (they are more or less the same just with different screen size) – exactly like iPad is not much different to the iPhone.
And making phone calls from your tablet – via Gmail for example – isn’t that ridiculous, btw.
For me all the difference is about work.
I expect Chrome OS to be “full” system which supports working with computer – editing docs, using applications, etc.
So where input devices like keyboard and mouse are essential, finger and voice being only secondary.
So, I feel there is some problem with Chrome OS because it is targeted primarily just for netbooks, which are designed for very simple working tasks only.
Chrome OS should be targeted at all pc, laptops, netbooks and tablets because I believe it will have all necessary to do most kind of work.
Btw, I imagine Android could be used for work too – just add support for phisical keyboard, mouse and heavy applications. It’s all close.
Daniel Cawrey
12. Sep, 2010
This begs the question: is the future of computing in tablet-like devices or those that have inputs such as keyboards and mice?
Someday, we may use just finger gestures and our voices, but I’m not sure the technology is quite there yet.
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