Chromebooks : Added Choice

Chromebooks has not yet seen the light of day and the doom-sayers are already having a field day. As with many new products that see the light of day, much time is spent to predict why it would be a failure. For eg. the iPhone 4 antennae debacle, Linux vs Microsoft vs Apple, Bing vs Google vs Yahoo etc. In all instances the underdogs has gained considerable marketshare and can boost on relative success.

Chromebooks offers a new dimension to computing and all realistic reasons may paint a grim future. But as with all articles that offer an opinion, the writer may have some bias. To assume that Google took on this venture on one assumption that everyone supposedly hates Microsoft is a bit far fetched. Google would not have been the number one brand, until recently surpassed by Apple, with a narrow-minded approach to new business. Chromebooks will be entering a huge market where product sales are driven by choice. The way it is priced, it is not too far fetched too assume that users will purchase it just for the sake of trying it out. It goes without saying that cloud computing does offer security challenges, but so does security in the conventional organization environment.

The challenge for Google lies herein, to drive the message that no additional hardware is needed to backup files, because documents will be saved in the cloud. Yes, hacking is a risk in the cloud, but organization server hacking is the order of the day too. No-one is immune to hacking. But are hackers really interested in personal files of the average user? I think not.

Facebook is an example of user trends to not protect their personal data by sharing personal data on personal pages and accepting third party applications that may divulge personal information. This trend suggests that the average user, whom will find the Chromebook affordable, talks about security, but does not entirely walk the talk. Wanting to be ahead of the pack and knowledgeable on the latest technology will be the winner at the end of the day. It is for that reason that I am giving the Chromebook a chance.

Broadband internet connectivity may offer increased opportunity for Chromebooks to compete in Singapore(96%), Hong Kong(99%), South Korea(97%), Switzerland(90%), Luxembourg(99%), Norway(84%), and Denmark(82%).

Chromebooks may surpass all expectations. I believe it will!

Please share your views.

My article is a response to an article by Mark Elgan for Computerworld:
Elgan_Why_Chromebooks_will_fail