Chromebooks and Laptop Rentals...
 

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/arc...op-you-rent-it

That's a really different approach to the computing market. While I wouldn't want one as a primary pc. It could be a fantastic idea for students and work.

Not sure if it is a good idea. A very base entry laptop cost $399 or even $349 when it is on sale. Which I think is way better than the Cr-48s.

well its an out of the box idea (pun?)... when lots of things are going to the clouds, it might end up to be a good idea...

the rental idea might include a suite of software for an additional monthly price. it's almost like leasing vs. financing.

this article says the $20 rental includes internet.

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=21601

According to Forbes, Google will announce a $20-a-month package for students that includes both the hardware and internet access, in what "is almost certainly a precursor to an enterprise offering."

If it includes internet then that's a FANTASTIC solution for students of all ages.

I also LOVE the idea of using Chromebooks for my sales people. Since they won't contain any specific data, should anything happen to them there's no risk of data loss or theft. Also they can work on their laptop while they're out and about then sit down on their work station in the office and pick up where they left off. Or share their data easily. This all is perfect for people that have businesses with multiple, mobile people.

I like how they're approaching it all in a different way. The well worn and beaten path is well worn and beaten, it's time to approach solutions that work for people with different needs and that's definitely the approach Google's taking.

not myself, but i can see how anti-Google ppl may think this is another way to collect info and statistics. i hope you won't be forced to use the cloud, only when you choose to.

Well the whole idea with Chromebooks is you keep no or minimal data on the hardware and use the cloud, so that if your hardware is lost/damaged/whathaveyou you don't lose data. It's also geared towards people who work on multiple work stations or have work that multiple people need to access.

If this does not work for you then this is definitely not the solution for you. :P

i'm curious if one is allowed to use hardware that is so heavily cloud-based if you are working with sensitive data, or how students/researchers feel about collaborating on the cloud. i guess its ok for a small term project...

Funny how we used to have mainframe computers which ran the software and stored your information and all the end user had was a terminal. Now with a Chromebook we're back to pretty much the same thing, albeit with a graphical "terminal" and some processing power at your end. But the concept is still very similar. Mainframes disappeared because people (companies) wanted control over their information instead of relying on a third party to store it.

Now they want us to go back to this same model. Personally, I think cloud is great for consumers as a place to store some documents (mainly personal stuff like photos/videos/music), but I don't know why a company would want to. You can get your own server for your office and still have your workers access it exactly the same as if they accessed the "cloud", except that the "cloud" belongs to you and resides at your company. And you can customize your server for your specific needs, something not so easily done with the "cloud".

Small biz outsourcing IT infrastructure, maintenance, and support to the cloud. It's an easy solution that costs you less money. Not just storage.. you can buy or rent software when you need it instead of buying the license and worrying about the technical issues. Cloud companies can scale and do it cheaper than you can.

You're a big company with sensitive data? Then you will have your own IT.

And I believe you can temporarily rent VMs as well for processing power.

^ What constitutes sensitive data? Cloud services will likely be secure, but the reality vs peoples perceptions are very different. How many big companies recently have had security breaches where millions of users personal information was compromised?

I recently set up a server for some friends business (three employees). I originally suggested Google docs as they have fairly simple requirements and it met their needs quite well. Problem was a couple of their many clients didn't want their information on Googles servers. So they had to go with an in-house solution to appease their customers.

Then there's the direction of Chrome itself, which is really nothing more than a browser. Nowadays you can do a hell of a lot with software in a browser to the point where some standalone software can be replaced by a browser. But not all software can, and for that you're still going to need a real PC with a bit more HP under the hood. So then you're going to have a mix of software you own running on "real" computers vs software you "rent" on something like a Chromebook.

And where is all this software going to come from? Sure it's nice to say you can "rent" software, but it still needs to be developed. As with any new platform, there will be little to choose from in terms of applications, further limiting how many people can adopt the idea of Chrome/Cloud. I just don't see the idea of Chrome and the cloud taking off anytime soon.

Then there's big, bad Microsoft, who appear to be making Cloud computing part on Windows 8. They'll have an OS that can run all those existing Windows applications along with new Cloud-based stuff.
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I do this already by using the VPN to remote into my desktop at work. This allows me to borrow any laptop at work, use my home laptop, or borrow family/friend's laptops while traveling. Its all secure cause everything happens on my desktop within the secure network, just the UI is sent via remote desktop to wherever I am.

I've been arguing at work to abandon the notion of a desktop completely. I want a virtual machine in server farm rather than a desktop. It'll have more processing power and memory, as well as be on the same physical networks at the other high speed servers (databases) so everything will run faster. Then the company never needs to upgrade my desktop again, since it'll just be a lightweight computers used to remote into my VM. Plus the company doesn't have to worry about my desktop failing or me backing up my work. The VM would be backed up when the servers are, so if it ever fails a snapshot could be easily restored and I'll be up and running again in minutes without bothering IT to fix my desktop.

^ THIS is exactly what I'm thinking.

I've looked at developing for Windows Azure (aka the cloud) and it does not look fun. Deploying and testing seems like it'll be a nightmare.

Then there's the market - what market is there for cloud based computing? For businesses I can think of a few, yet for the end consumer what applications will they pay for to use in the cloud? Will this be the beginning of the Chrome store? Ie I can buy Angry Birds as a cloud based game and access it via any browser anywhere? oh wait... we already have that, they are called websites.

My company has been examining whether it is worth it to release platform specific apps, or to use the web model and just make it accessible to anyone, anywhere - especially as data plans become cheaper and mobile bandwidth faster.

I looked at that for tablets so I could write software that worked on Android and iOS. However, things I wanted to do were beyond the capabilities of a browser/web model, so I had to choose to write for a platform (I chose iOS for many reasons).

You can do a lot with the web model. There's also a lot you can't do. Which is why you can never have a 100% Cloud experience - at least not yet.

That's what I said. You're concerned about your data? Set up your own IT.

Not concerned? Or maybe cloud security is greater than anything you can provide yourself? Cloud services look attractive. Not everybody wants to deal with technical headaches.

I haven't done much research, but off the top of my head: Google, SAP, Salesforce? Anything with Google Docs (simpler) complexity can be taken to the cloud. For most biz, I think this is a bigger chunk of work than you let on. Is chrome gonna take off? I don't know, don't care. That wasn't your original question! But there's been a lot of hype behind stock ticker CRM.