Chrome OS=Mac netbook?

Will Chrome OS prompt Apple to create a Mac netbook in order to fend off Google? Maybe. While netbooks have mostly been underpowered little laptops which often have weird design flaws (buttons on the side of the trackpad), Chrome OS seems to be positioned to turn netbooks into highly effective thin clients which efficiently run web apps.

I think it’s obvious that Google’s goal is to make the client side as thin and irrelevant as possible, while pulling more user data and apps into the cloud. If Google can use Chrome OS to make Internet computing the de facto standard 5 to 7 years from now, Apple and Microsoft will find themselves in a corner which is difficult to get out of.

As a developer, I don’t see that many computationally intensive tasks will move to the cloud anytime soon. Apps like Eclipse and Photoshop aren’t going to get away from the desktop, at least not in the foreseeable future. But, the vast majority of users don’t do computationally intensive things. Even today, most things the average user does can be delivered via web apps, especially if the user is on an efficient, lightweight platform which is built to run web apps, instead of desktop apps.

If Apple isn’t thinking about how to get users to access their data and apps via a Mac netbook device, they probably should be.

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View Comments to “Chrome OS=Mac netbook?”

Rail Life 8 July 2009 at 11:06 am #

Some of the small computers look to be pretty convenient for getting things done on the road. As they improve, I agree that it might make sense for a “cheaper” Mac to compete with this section of the market that appears to be growing well.
Matthew Petro 9 July 2009 at 2:30 pm #

I was talking about this with Tyler Hurst and his opinion (which I agree with) was that Apple would eventually release a “tablet iPhone” type device which could compete in the netbook space. I totally could see Apple doing something like that to compete and change the game at the same time.