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Why Chromebooks Are a Bad Idea

10484 Views 17 Replies 16 Participants Last post by  tinsleyrex, 
C
Not everyone thinks Google's ChromeBook is the best idea, here's another article explains the con's to the ChromeBook.

This has me rethinking if a ChromeBook is still worth it or not.

What do you guys think about the Chrome book, is it as bad as exlained below or do you have faith in it?


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When it took the wraps off its stripped down, nothing-but-the-browser Chromebooks this week Google was attempting its own iPad moment. The web-only laptops fundamentally reinvent what computers are, said Google's VP leading the project, Sundar Pichai. Unsurprisingly, a lot of people are skeptical. Here's a run down of reasons the tech press came up with that Chromebooks are a bad idea. It's worth remembering that the iPad similarly met with a barrage of criticism and did change how we think about computers. Bit will Google's idea tread the same path?


It won't work with your iPod, points out this ZDNet blogger:

The millions of existing iPhone, iPad and iPod owners cannot use the Chromebook with those devices. That is one task the Chromebook can't perform, and it is unlikely it ever will. Google will be looking at convincing Apple product owners that they need to switch, or forget the Chromebook. That is a huge unreachable market for a brand new product.

At the launch Google showed how a Chromebook can handle files from a digital camera. But without Apple's iTunes, iPod and iPhones are off the menu.

They're too expensive, says PCMag, at a minimum cost of $429 or $349:

Will people want to pay as much for such a light client device as they do for a fully loaded notebook running a traditional OS like Microsoft Windows? The Chromebook Series 5 is powered by a 1.66GHz dual-core Intel Atom N570 processor, and has a 16GB mSATA solid-state drive and 2GB of RAM. Those are netbook parts in a machine that's priced at the level of low-end notebooks.

People aren't ready to trust the cloud, claims InformationWeek:

"As the recent Amazon Web Services outage demonstrated, cloud services can fail and customers can lose data."

It's a goldmine for hackers, says an expert at software security firm Kaspersky:

"With Cloud centric OS'es, the race will be towards stealing access credentials, after which, it's game over. Who needs to steal banking accounts, when you have Google Checkout? Or, who needs to monitor passwords, when they're all nicely stored into the Google Dashboard?...Earlier today, I got asked by a friend- 'How is Chrome OS from a security point of view, better or worse?' I answered, 'It's better, but much worse.'"

Google can't do hardware and support, claims veteran Silicon Valley journalist Tom Foremski:

"Google's last foray into hardware with its Nexus cell phone was a disaster primarily because it had no customer support in place. I saw some of the messages from customers on Google's boards howling with frustration because they couldn't get answers for some of their problems. And that's Google's culture: automate every process."

Google gets too much control, according to SearchEngineWatch:

"Your computer has no hard drive. You can't download them and move them somewhere else. You can't change services. You have nowhere to go. That's a lot of power to give one company, isn't it?"

taken from..... Six Reasons Why Chromebooks Are a Bad Idea - Technology Review
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J
Bring it on

As one who has grown up with the computer age since roughly 1990 when I bought my first computer and having survived all of the maddening things that have been imposed on us by the computer industry, I'm amazed at all the angst expressed when something comes along that has the potential to set us free. Even as crude as the current offerings are on Google's "cloud", I am really excited about finally getting free of all the operating systems that aggravate the **** out of us, continually have to be repurchased to stay current, etc. I say BRING IT ON.

Jim
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B
Everyone was skeptical about all OS system like when apple made the switch over to Intel Processor which allowed them to be "hacked" and more easily accessed. As for the skeptics that say its over priced, go look at a new mac and see how much that cost, or even a decent laptop , not those bargain bin garbage laptops that take hours to load.

But i'd say they haven't worked out just alll the quirks yet.. and it does seem to need more fine tuning!
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modder
It won't work with your iPod, points out this ZDNet blogger:

The millions of existing iPhone, iPad and iPod owners cannot use the Chromebook with those devices. That is one task the Chromebook can't perform, and it is unlikely it ever will. Google will be looking at convincing Apple product owners that they need to switch, or forget the Chromebook. That is a huge unreachable market for a brand new product.

At the launch Google showed how a Chromebook can handle files from a digital camera. But without Apple's iTunes, iPod and iPhones are off the menu.
Click to expand...
This argument doesn't work for me, Android has a gazillion (I know, I'm ubber scientific) Apps to get around that which work great, why would Chrome be different?
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G
Super stoked, it will be the future of the personal computer.
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L
I am considering both the pros and cons but there are definitely reasons why any type of new technology could be a bad idea. It doesn't sound so expensive to me. The prices it gives as minimums sound cheap to me, but maybe I'm not up to date with laptop prices.
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B
i would say its not a bad thing but the HUGE selling point is it price point and what is is capable of doing for such a low price point.
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H
One of my biggest concerns is the huge amount of power & control you give to Google by doing this. Also remember that this is the same company that shifted it's view on Net Neutrality and now suggests that there be a separate internet for phones.

Another concern is the hacking. I'm not sure how comfortable I am having all my information and documents in one place. I'm reminded of the old saying not to keep all your eggs in one basket.
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A
I think it's a great idea
most things you do on the computer is use the internet
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M
Disclaimer first, I am a Google fan! Take my responses in that context.

It won't work with your iPod
This is an Apple issue.
They're too expensive
True, and you'll probably be buying additional storage on the cloud as well. But the admin $ savings for corporations and institutions will hopefully be huge.
People aren't ready to trust the cloud,
Storage and app providers will be judged based on their MTBF. as hardware vendors are now. There will be fallout, it's a new industry. But I'd rather trust Google or Amazon to protect my data than some software vendor who has a vested interest in perpetuating an insecure environment so he can sell remedial solutions.
It's a goldmine for hackers, says an expert at software security firm Kaspersky
See previous response!
Google can't do hardware and support,
They built and maintain one of the largest distributed networks in history. They designed and built the entire infrastructure; they are industry leaders in power technology, SAN, and of course Web technologies.
Their first foray into "consumer" products was eye opening for them, but it was the first. And no one can say that Google doesn't learn from their history.
Google gets too much control,
You could replace Google in this statement with: Microsoft, Apple, Oracle, IBM, Amazon, George Soros, Fox News, or any other entity that will push someone's buttons.

My final thought on all of these critiques; consider the source.
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J
Don't think any of the reasons given here as to why Chromebooks are a bad idea hold much water, and agree with the post "consider the source"
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J
mrmtampa said:
Disclaimer first, I am a Google fan! Take my responses in that context.

It won't work with your iPod
This is an Apple issue.
They're too expensive
True, and you'll probably be buying additional storage on the cloud as well. But the admin $ savings for corporations and institutions will hopefully be huge.
People aren't ready to trust the cloud,
Storage and app providers will be judged based on their MTBF. as hardware vendors are now. There will be fallout, it's a new industry. But I'd rather trust Google or Amazon to protect my data than some software vendor who has a vested interest in perpetuating an insecure environment so he can sell remedial solutions.
It's a goldmine for hackers, says an expert at software security firm Kaspersky
See previous response!
Google can't do hardware and support,
They built and maintain one of the largest distributed networks in history. They designed and built the entire infrastructure; they are industry leaders in power technology, SAN, and of course Web technologies.
Their first foray into "consumer" products was eye opening for them, but it was the first. And no one can say that Google doesn't learn from their history.
Google gets too much control,
You could replace Google in this statement with: Microsoft, Apple, Oracle, IBM, Amazon, George Soros, Fox News, or any other entity that will push someone's buttons.

My final thought on all of these critiques; consider the source.
Click to expand...
To all of the above, I say, Good Point
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jwr
definitely agree on these statements. According the cloud, two words: Playstation Network
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B
I must be missing something, as I don't know if the original source is biased against Google in some way. Anyhow, this made for interesting reading, and I have no issue with people picking over every new development and pointing out things to worry about. At least it encourages debate and helps people decide what they want to buy.

I rarely take anything I read at face value though, so the article doesn't put me off.
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P
I think the idea of the Chromeook was a great one and no need to concentrate so much on the quacks; they will be fixed in due time. Hacking might not be anything we'll ever get rid but on the other hand, the 'cloud' concept is a superb one.
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Alan2011
There's always room for improvement. Hacking won't ever stop and there's always bad distribution of who has the control. Most of the issues are actually pretty common. The best that can be done is to improve them. They can't be fixed completely.
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C
I am neither a Google nor Apple fanboi, but I find these sorts of negative responses interesting, as they seem to follow a similar pattern to those that preceded the introduction of the iPad. I wish I had the time to conduct a formal and systematic qualitative analysis of the comments and responses from tech blogs about the Chromebooks and compare it to a similar analysis of comments/responses to the introduction of the iPad. I think there would be a great deal of similarity in initial dismay, outrage, and disdain, followed by wide spread adoption. It will be interesting to see if a similar widespread adoption follows the release of the Chromebooks over the next few months.
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T
Everything has ups and downs, and I think the ups are considerably larger.
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