Google OS
I figured I’d jot down my thoughts on the new Google OS. It’s not exactly timely since the announcement was a week or so ago, but my head is spinning from trying to get the last 12 achievements in Bully (I have 11!) and I’m not feeling especially thoughtful right now.
So what do I think? I love the idea of a Google OS and also the idea of cloud computing. It’s the future, without a doubt.
First, let’s tackle the cloud, because I love the cloud and that’s what differentiates the Google OS from, say, OSX or Windows. And my love for the cloud starts with the question as to why should I bother upgrading my PC’s hardware and drivers and then installing and updating the software I intend to use and so forth when I can launch my web browser and do whatever I want to do?
You (that is, people in general) may not agree, and that’s your right and privilege, but the majority will love the idea of taking the effort out of the home computer. They’ll be relieved that all they have to do is buy a cheap, standard hardware, portable “console” like PC that can do everything your state of the art, expensive beast of a PC can do now. Plug it into your HDTV or a computer monitor. Or use a laptop. And go.
You’d have a unified account on-line, like the iPhone App store or something, where you’d select the programs you want — OpenOffice or MS Office; Safari or Opera; etc. All the free options and pay options. You’d have an online storage account to save your documents and music or stash your photos from the camera you plug-in to your computer. You don’t even need to worry about where it’s saved or how it’s saved. It’s already easier to find a file by doing a keyword search than to navigate to the directory. The only reason the home user buys powerful computers is for gaming. But with options like Gaikai and OnLive, you’ll even have all your modern gaming enjoyment. No need to worry about defragmenting the hard drive, backing up files, scanning the HD, or fiddling with antivirus and spyware — the cloud handles that.
I think a lot of people, for a short while, during the transition, will worry about their important files and so forth and want to back them up. But moving forward I think that worry will be eliminated. I grew up listening to tapes and CDs. Now, people (myself included) download digital music, fire it onto their DAP of choice, and forget about it. Or, to put it into more relevant terms, a lot of people used external mail clients to download their web-based e-mail for safe keeping. I, for one, stopped doing that years ago. And I am not alone.
The cloud is becoming more reliable. It may not be perfect now, and that may have people thinking they don’t want to be connected to the cloud, but it’s getting better and soon we will be sucked into it and, as I see it, we won’t need to worry about much of anything anymore. Or, at least, we’ll get rid of all the old worries.
As for Google specifically, I love Google. I use Gmail and Reader. I use Picassa. I use YouTube. When I need to schedule anything, I use Calendar. I use Google to search the web. I even sometimes use Google Docs. I’m not worried about privacy concerns or them getting carried away with advertisements. I think they’re a good company and they focus on not only getting better, but also innovation. So I’m fine with them trying to compete with MS. More than fine. I’m happy. Google is a big, powerful company and they have different views from Microsoft and Microsoft’s other primary competitors, Apple and Linux. MS may be too big to beat right now (which is why Google and others are driving for the cloud where a new war may be started). But I kind of see Google directing Linux into a stronger competitor. That is, right now there are thousands are varieties of Linux and people love that about it. They love that you can do anything with it. But while that’s true, there should also be a standard; I think Google may end up creating that standard.
Obviously, this is all theoretical. It’s guessing. But I think the future for home computing is going to be a lot less intimidating to the majority. And everyone else can continue buying their $2000+ computers every two or three or four years if they still want.
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