How Android is Better Than Chrome OS | Hacker News Reader

How Android is Better Than Chrome OS

pcmag.com

Absurd.

> ...and I don't see what Chrome brings to the table that an older Linux PC with Firefox didn't.

Are you serious? You can't see that Chrome OS is faster? Easier? As in: much, much easier? People are very afraid of Linux - they think they won't know how to use it if they try, and this is true some of the time. But everyone will immediately know how to use Chrome OS.

> 1. Wireless networks aren't reliable.

First, they're totally reliable for me. I've not had interruptions in...well, a long long time. It has been months or years since I've wanted wireless connectivity but couldn't have it.

Second, the author claims that Android apps handle this gracefully but Chrome apps don't. That's garbage. First, that problem has nothing to do with the platform. Second, Google is pushing hard to make Chrome OS work well offline. They'll deliver offline Docs, NY Times already has a fully-offline version working, etc.

> "Living in the cloud" will bust your data cap.

Short term problem. Again, this has nothing to do with Chrome OS. You don't think your data caps will get higher and higher as more bandwidth becomes available and consumers demand more and more? I promise you than in 1 year, the same amount of wireless data will cost less than it does today.

> 3. Web technologies suck for many app categories, especially games.

Historically true, but changing rapidly. This author is stuck in the past. In three years, HTML5 support will be old news; it'll be in every browser, fast and much better than it is today.

First, they're totally reliable for me. I've not had interruptions in...well, a long long time. It has been months or years since I've wanted wireless connectivity but couldn't have it.

I'm with you there. There was a period in 2007 where I used Sprint 3G as my primary connection. Since then I've used it as my primary connection when not at home (I have never connected to a public wifi hotspot), and I never have connectivity problems, even when traveling to Mexico or the Caribbean.

As far as the data cap goes, I'm grandfathered into an unlimited 3g plan, but new 4g plans like I have on my Evo are unlimited for everyone, no 5gb cap.

This author is kind of known for flamebait. I pulled up a list of his columns I found (http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,2806,2086722,00.asp). Titles include...

Samsung to Apple: The Battle is On

Google Acknowledges That Verizon Owns Your Internet

AT&T's Insane Service Plan Strategy

Apple's iPad Could Kill the Mac

iTunes Store Still Has Plenty of Porn

I think this guy has a point, from first hand experience with the ChromeOS. I don't see the value.

I was more commenting on his delivery and the fact that it seems to have annoyed Cryptoz. So what I was saying was more "Hey Cryptoz don't get so annoyed because then you're giving him what he wants" than "his points are completely invalid".

I don't really agree with his points but they are valid for a small group of people who don't have ready access to WiFi.

Let me clear things up for the... less open minded:

ChromeOS is basically bigger than an iPad plus a keyboard. Battery life is close.

ChromeOS starting before you even think of opening the lid is moot. Nobody has problems with iPad startup. EVER. Unless you depleted 100%.

A child can figure out the iPad.

Ok lets rewind a bit.... @$#$%$#%#%$#%#$.... ok...

So basically you have TWO choices for online connectivity: Wifi OR Verizon. Verizon plans are bullshit at best. They are overpriced 3g pieces of shit. If I could pay for 1 gig and use as I please until it runs out, great, but NOOOO, its 1 gig expires in 1 month. A 1 day unlim pass for 10 bucks? Holy shit!

Clear wireless gives a unlimited usb wifi 4g modem for 30 bucks a month. Thats right 4g and its pretty much 2-4 bars EVERYWHERE in nyc. And no data caps. But of course can't use that shit since the chromeos does not support it.

I guess its all over the place. A crippled iPad + keyboard. A crippled laptop since you are limited to choices for wireless isp (can't even put in a 4g card because there is no slot there). Hold on it gets better.

The wifi reciever gets 3 fucking bars of service when sitting RIGHT NEXT TO THE WIRELESS ROUTER. Thats a problem. There is also no ethernet jack so at work since I can't set up microsoft authentication for our wifi (not supported), but can use an ethernet jack, I can't use the laptop (yay). Lets keep going.

> Web technologies suck... bla bla bla...

Yea not only do they suck the performance on that laptop is ATTROCIOUS. Those webapps need to be optimized to no fucking end before they can be run "smoothly" in any sense of the word. And adobe needs to improve linux flash performance significantly. So far the only use I got out of the chrome os laptop is my daughter playing the PBS spelling games. She loves them. Except in 5 minutes memory leaks kick in and the laptop is unusable.

Basically this laptop solves zero percent of my needs (ok fine 10%)

PC Magazine: On the cutting edge of 20th century computing.

Chrome OS is a market maker. It is unique in that you cannot use it for local apps. This also means that, barring memory leaks or serious bugs in the OS itself, you cannot screw it up with bad device drivers, configs, etc. You cannot have a malware infection. You never have to back it up, or risk losing data because of a problem with the device.

There is no other device in its category. Yes, you can use your laptop or tablet this way if you so choose, but a Chrome OS device forces you to do everything in the cloud. PCM would have a point were it not for the number of people who are already living in the cloud. This device is a dream-come-true for them. They lose nothing, and gain a light-weight device with a long battery life, that is immune to many of the most common types of system failure. And it has a real keyboard.

Cloud users will use cloud notebooks if they can get them. This will naturally lead to more people seeing the utility of living in the cloud: yes, you can actually do this, and do it very well. The number of cloud users will steadily increase. This will lead to an ever greater demand for robust cloud applications. More robust cloud applications will lead to more users living in the cloud... you get the picture.

Android was not written as a general-purpose OS, it's a mobile-centric API/OS optimized for low footprint and low CPU. Some of those concerns translate to a netbook/tablet environment, a lot of them don't, but IMO Android would have to have a significant re-write to become a full-fledged rich client OS that developers would want to write for. The iPhone/iPad gap is a lot smaller because both were built on top of an OSX and Cocoa-derived core that is general purpose.

So my current confusion around Chrome OS is I don't really understand what market it is trying to capture. Considering there are already (admittedly kind of crappy) sub $200 Android tablets and I can go to Frys and get a sub $300 netbook. Why would I want a Chrome OS device instead of running Chrome (or a "Chrome Runtime") on a more traditional OS.

I don't understand why this is confusing anyone.

There is a certain segment of the Internet populace that is interested only in browsing the web. It may be for lack of technical capability or interest (my mother-in-law) or it may be due to strict IT administration policies (K-12 schools).

In any case, Chrome OS is the perfect OS when you don't want the user to have to worry about any of the technical details of maintaining a running appliance. They don't have to back anything up. They don't have to worry about background services or anti-virus software. Everyone gets the exact same experience on Chrome OS and it is web browsing and nothing more.

I'll grant you that they probably could have gimped Android into a sort of "zero local state" mode. But at this point, Android is not capable of handling the desktop interaction model that people are accustomed to.

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