Report: Chrome OS “Student Subscriptions” for $20 a Month to be Annoucned
Posted on 10. May, 2011 by Daniel Cawrey in Chrome OS, News, Rumors
A Google executive has leaked that Google will announce a student package that will allow users to get their hands on a Chrome OS notebook for a very reasonable $20 subscription per month. This will be announced during the Day 2 keynote at Google I/O, which is expected to focus on Chrome.
Chrome OS decidedly needs to enter into the market with a very particular price point that Google has closely studied. It’s clear that by this news the company seeks to fill a need with students who don’t want to shell out hundreds of dollars for a computer yet with a cheaper offering that can offer almost everything that on a traditional PC – but all on the web.
There’s also potential in the market for small and medium-sized businesses to possibly adopt Chrome OS subscriptions as well. “Small and medium-sized businesses are banging on our doors to get something like this,” the executive told Forbes.
No details are available, however, on how Google is going to actually classify a student that is eligible to get the subscription pricing. We’ll be getting the full scoop on all of that during the presentation tomorrow, but it sounds like Google might be able to get a ton of Chromebooks into people’s hands very quickly with this method.
Do you think that this type of plan should be restricted to students, or be allowed for everyone who wants to try out Chrome OS?
via Forbes
4 Responses to “Report: Chrome OS “Student Subscriptions” for $20 a Month to be Annoucned”
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Cougar Abogado
11. May, 2011
“Having students try out the product — at a price cheaper than buying a laptop for school — amounts to a shakedown cruise for the eventual product. If successful, it also seeds the market for future demand, as students move into the workforce with expectations of working in cloud-based systems.”
If the subscription model is limited to students, I can definitely see why: A lot of students have grown up on the Internet and realize 99.9% of what they do on a computer is in the browser. Or maybe 85% is in the browser and the other 15% is dealing with Windows updates, spyware, virus software, program installs/uninstalls, system crashes, system control warnings, hardware issues (the AC adapter on my HP laptop broke early on, and now the battery’s dead), etc.
If the student limitation is correct, I think I will view it as Google doing what it does best, in the same way it released the Cr-48, Gmail, Google Voice, and now Google Music (to name a few). What I mean is, I’m very impressed with how Google builds its products based (almost completely) on rabid evangelism, rather than advertising blitzkriegs.
I think most of us would agree a number of “average” consumers would hesitate to buy Chrome OS, simply over the concern, “What is it?” By “hooking up” a mass number of Millennial Generation students, Google would win over a large group of early adopters, immensely please their financial backers (parents), and, as quoted, plant seeds for future demand. I’ve read plenty of criticism on Chrome OS and the Cr-48. A lot of these complaints seem to myopically focus on how Chrome OS is “just a browser,” and that it fails to do anything new or special. On the other hand, I’ve read a number of stories where “geeks,” like myself, understand and appreciate the minimalist/cloud vision and then introduce family and friends to Chrome OS, who simply pick up a Cr-48 and run with it, never looking back.
Okay. Maybe I’ll go study for my last final now . . .
After waiting, anxiously, for two years, I’m really stoked to see Chrome OS hit the market. Licking my chops to find out more, later today (hopefully, after my final’s over!).
Thanks for the post, Daniel.
highlands ranch
11. May, 2011
I’m not sure about paying a monthly fee for a product that I can buy an equivalent that can “do more” for ~$300.
Low priced laptops seen the largest growth in the last quarter compared to any other type of PC thus, there certainly is a market for low cost laptops/netbooks.
Cougar Abogado
12. May, 2011
Well, I guess which students get on board will be up to the school’s administration . . .
http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/11/editorial-google-clarifies-chromebook-subscriptions-might-have/
Cougar Abogado
13. May, 2011
Okay, I think I missed the boat on _individual_ students being seen as the key early adopters (Google’s targeting business/school IT infrastructures).
On the other hand, I definitely feel Google’s taking the overall, step-by-step, word of mouth approach I presumed:
“But Google plans to start small and grow. Pichai thinks Chrome OS will appeal to a lot of people, but evidently recognizing that it will take a lot of time to win over most folks, the company is aiming initial products at the enthusiasts who are predisposed to like it. From that seed, Google expects a tree to grow.
“‘You build a great experience, and you continually improve it. A few people get on board. As long as you delight them, they serve as messengers. Then somebody else hears about it, it breaks out, you market it,’ Pichai said. ‘You have to earn it step by step.’”
Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20062433-264.html#ixzz1MFPn4bpW