A new kind of computer - A new generation of computing - Google Chrome OS

The power of web apps has ushered in a new generation of computing. Web apps like gmail, youtube, lala, pandora, mint, blogger, wordpress, google maps, netflix, twitter, facebook etc have us all glued to the internet. This is good news for Google. Ever wonder why google gives away almost all of their web apps for free? Because they want you online! Personally, I consider that a fair trade. I get their free apps and in exchange I tolerate Google Ads and sometimes find them helpful unlike random commercials on TV, which DVR's are killing off. Anyway, Google wants everyone to be online all the time and they want that experience to be as awesome as possible because the longer people are online, the more they will see Google Ads, which is how they make 95% of their money. To be honest, google should just start giving everyone a computer on their 16th birthday, kind of like Gillette does with razors. All that to say, Google isn't giving away computers, but they do want to make them cheap and they want them to fly on the internet. Google is working on developing a new computer that runs Google Chrome OS that is soley designed for the internet. It will be centered around SPEED and SECURITY. They are doing this because 90% of the stuff we want to do on the computer is all done on the internet and they like it that way. Google also thinks storing data on your personal computer is old-school so these computers won't do that. Your thinking "HUH?" Google thinks it should all be done in the cloud on secure servers. I know what you are thinking "what about security?!" Well, the facts are that if you are on a PC and you are connected to the internet, chances are the data on your PC is actually less secure than it would be on server protected by million dollar security systems. What's more secure, your house or Fort Knox? Think of cold hard cash vs electronic funds. Some people love to pay with cash and will only feel secure doing so. They hate the idea of online banking because what if it gets hacked? In addition, this person will also feel the need to keep all their mp3's physically located on a personal computer along with all their secure financial information. If that is you, this whole idea will not interest you (at least for several more years). Also, the Google Chrome OS is not for everyone unless technology advances so quickly that it becomes possible to do real hardcore video and graphics editing on the internet with web apps. Seems like too much processing power would be needed at this point, but in the future who knows?

I think the idea is interesting and this is what I love about Google. They are always pushing the status quo and thinking outside of the box. I'm not sure how this will go, but they are challenging people and companies to truly think different and they are doing something about it with their actions. Check out this video on Chrome OS to learn more about it. What do you think about it? Do you think this is the future of desktop computing? Matthew Murray from PC Mag has an interesting article about that topic here. How do mobile apps fit into this equation? Are traditional desktops old school? Do you trust the cloud or do you need your personal hard drive? I think I would buy one if it were $99 or less and I would use it at first just to explore the possibilities. Then I would blog about it :-)