While the biggest OS
announcement of the week award goes to Microsoft and the availability
of the Windows 8 release preview, Google also introduced an updated
version of its Chrome OS as well as updated hardware in the form of a
Chromebook and the brand new Chromebox made by Samsung. Although
reception to both the Chromebook and the new OS have been relatively
positive there is still one question that Google needs to answer, why
does it feel the need to bring a new OS to the computer market.
Chrome OS?
Chrome OS is Google's
browser based operating system that is designed to appeal to those
people who merely use their computers to browse the internet. Instead
of storing applications locally on the Chromebook Google has designed
the OS so that all apps and icons are actually bookmarks, that when
clicked take you to the designated application on the web. For
example the Twitter icon on the desktop takes you into the Chrome
browser and to the Twitter website. However, the inherent problem
with basing an operating system on the browser is that without
internet connection both the Chromebook and Chrome OS are practically
useless.
A Lack of Strategy
and the Changing Market
Indeed it seems that
after the success of Android Google felt as though it now had the
market penetration to enter the desktop and laptop spaces. The
problem, however, is it seems to have lacked a coherent strategy from
which to build upon. When first announced Chrome OS was “targeted
at netbooks”, with “speed, simplicity and security” being the
key words used to describe the OS. However, almost two years on from
the announcement Google has brought out a desktop version of the
Chromebook in the form of the Chromebox. Reminiscent of the Mac mini
in size and shape, the Chromebox has the same specifications of the
Chromebook but is slightly cheaper. Releasing a desktop version of
the Chromebook seems to go back on the statement that Google was
targeting the netbook market and hints at the fact that even Google
itself may not have a coherent strategy for its newly formed OS.
Delving deeper we see
that Google's decision to enter the desktop space with the Chromebox
may actually have something to do with the declining sales of
netbooks. Last year in Western Europe netbook sales fell 12.8%,
greater than the overall decline of the computer market which fell by
11.4%. This was on top of netbooks decline in sales during 2010. The
emergence of the Ipad and Android tablets can certainly be seen as a
reason for the decline in netbook sales. Upon announcing Chromebooks
Google was keen to highlight the extremely fast boot times of the
device. Indeed the new Chromebook released last week resumes from
sleep in two seconds. Yet while this is impressive, tablets are able
to resume even faster than this, are lighter, smaller and carry out
nearly the exact same functionality that Chromebooks do. They also
maintain some functionality while offline. It seems that Google is
hoping that the Chromebox, being a desktop device, is not in
competition with tablets and will therefore target a different
consumer audience. Yet even if this is the case the Chromebox is an
extremely niche product. Retailing for $329 the Chomebox is certainly
cheap yet it too lacks much of the functionality you would expect
from a desktop device, even one so small. For $599 you can buy the
Mac mini that while the same size as the Chromebox is much more
powerful and can only be described as a much more useful device. The
Chromebox for instance is even unable to act as a media pc as
everything runs through the chrome browser. Google has promised that
an offline version of Google Docs will be coming to both the
Chromebook and Chromebox in the coming weeks. But the fact that this
wasn't included for the new OS's update really does seem to highlight
the fact Google is unsure of what it wants its new Chrome OS to be.
Is it meant to be a fourth computer operating system or is it meant
to be an alternative to the touch based operating systems of iOS and
android.
The Chromium Paradox
Chrome OS's limited
functionality offline causes us to believe that Google's OS is
somewhat paradoxical in nature, it seems to be a glimpse of the
future in the form factor of the past. An OS based entirely on being
connected to the internet is clearly a vision of the future. As more
and more people around the globe get connected the the internet
Chrome OS will become more viable. Yet, like Google TV, the premise
behind Chrome OS seems to be before its time. We are not yet ready to
have to be connected to the internet to use our computers. Not only
is the internet not widely available at decent speeds in many areas
of the world but wireless technology also needs to see significant
improvements before we can really use a computer that needs to be
connected to the internet to function. Nobody wants to buy a thin and
light Chromebook only to be restricted to certain areas of their
house because that is where they can get wireless signal. Yet for all
the futuristic aspects of Google's OS there seems to be a fundamental
misjudgement of the changing times in the hardware space. The market
Google is targeting with Chromebooks and the Chromebox are those
people who only want to check their emails and maybe do some light
perusing of the web. Yet those same people are more attracted to the
iPads and galaxy tabs of this world than they are to a Chromebook.
Someone who buys a device that looks like a laptop nowadays wants it
to have more performance and functionality than a tablet provides and
this is arguably the fundamental failure of Chrome OS. It has been
implemented in a device that no longer has a place in today’s
consumer market, the high-end is now the realm of the ultrabook and
the low-end has been cannibalised by tablets.
Google may yet make
Chrome OS as success but as it stands it is hard to see it gaining
any traction in the market. Netbooks have been largely replaced by
tablets and with Google's OS only running on laptops or desktops it
seems hard to see how someone who only uses their computer now and
again to browse the internet will want to be restricted to a fixed
desktop or a slightly less bulky laptop when a tablet can carry out
the exact same purpose. More offline functionality is also a must as
people aren't ready yet to have to be connected to the web to use
their computer. Google's fledgling OS certainly has a lot of growing
up to do before it can be seriously considered as a rival to OSX and
Windows but as Google showed with android they certainly have the
talent to do just that.
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