I recently recieved a Chrome OS Cr48 notebook through Google’s Pilot Program. If you’re at all interested in web technology, you’re probably aware of this program. In case you aren’t, I’ll give you the skinny before discussing the good and bad of Google’s first foray into hardware for cloud-based computing.
Google is betting that the future of computing is in the cloud and running applications based on open web technologies (namely HTML, CSS, and JavaScript). This trend has been clear for a number of years - most of the products Google has been developing are baby steps in this direction.
Google recently opened the Chrome Web Store, which is superficially similar to Apple’s iOS App Store. However, there is a critical distinction: apps for Chrome are built on web standards. The store only allows Chrome users to install the apps, but there’s generally no reason they shouldn’t work in any standards-compliant web browser. By contrast, iOS apps can only be developed with Apple’s proprietary SDK and must be approved by an opaque review process before being available to the public via iTunes and only on iOS platforms. Google is betting on quasi-openness, Apple is betting on their walled garden.
The most recent addition to Google’s vision of the future is the Cr48 Chrome OS notebook. The Cr48 is still a prototype and not yet available (or ready) for consumers. Nonetheless, it is the first true cloud-based computer - with all the benefits and difficulties that go along with that.
The Cr48 Chrome OS notebook - on which I’m typing this article - runs a custom, lightweight Linux-based OS. The user interface of Chrome OS is Google’s Chrome web browser. For those of us used to a desktop and multiple applications, this takes some getting used to. System settings - such as date and time and trackpad sensitivity - are found in the Chrome “wrench” menu (or by visiting chrome://settings). The top right corner of the interface is occupied by controls for wireless Internet access - either through Wi-Fi or built-in Verizon Wireless 3G - and a battery life indicator.
There is also a rudimentary shell available (via Ctrl+Alt+T) with a basic set of commands. The shell is extremely stripped down - for instance, don’t bother trying “pwd” because it doesn’t exist in the Chrome OS shell! The most notable and useful command is rudimentary SSH. And rudimentary it is - there seems to be no way to even generate authentication keys.
Otherwise, the software is the web. Applications are not stored locally on the machine. In fact, very little is stored on the 16GB flash storage. You can download and view files - like PDFs and so forth, but your only interface to them is via the Downloads “mini-app”. I call it a “mini-app” because it doesn’t occupy a browser tab like most apps, but a small minimizable tab that anchors to the bottom of the screen - and persists across tabs and even the shell. The Google Talk app works the same way.
The apps suffer from the low-end hardware they’re running on - many animations are sluggish and jerky. V8 might be the gold standard among in-browser JavaScript engines, but app performance on the Cr48 is a problem.
The drawback of the cloud-based software model, of course, is that if you don’t have Internet access, you’re going to have a tough time using the computer (though this is mitigated by the built-in mobile broadband from Verizon Wireless, airplanes and subways are still dead zones). Additionally, the dearth of high-caliber software for tasks ranging from graphic design to audio and video editing to software development means that these more intensive pursuits are not suited to the cloud.
On the plus side, having all your data stored in the cloud means that your hardware is disposable. If your laptop is lost, stolen, or in any way destroyed, your data is safe - on Google’s servers. If you log in to your Google account on another Chrome OS notebook, all your apps and data are preserved. There is an argument to be made that putting all your data eggs in one company’s basket opens up a world of problems around data privacy and security, but we won’t get into that.
In its current incarnation, the Chrome OS notebook itself is a bare, unbranded black plastic case. It’s incredibly light - weighing in between 3 and 4 pounds.
The keyboard has “chicklet” style keys not unlike Apple’s line of notebooks. Additionally, Google has wisely gotten rid of the CapsLock key - a boon to anyone who is ever exposed to the geniuses in YouTube comments. The CapsLock key has been replaced by a “search” key, which really just opens a new tab in Chrome - pretty handy for people not already used to the Ctrl+T method of opening new tabs. The final change to the traditional keyboard takes another cue from Apple’s hardware design - the function (or “F”) keys at the top of the keyboard have been replaced by defined task keys - such as Back, Forward, Reload, Full Screen, Brightness, and Volume controls.
The keyboard, however, is not the primary input device for most users - that distinction belongs to the mouse or trackpad. The Chrome OS notebook trackpad is also unsurprisingly inspired by Apple’s design. Lacking buttons, clicks are performed either by a tap or a press. A two-finger tap performs a right-click and two fingers can be used to scroll. Unfortunately, unlike Apple’s trackpads the Cr48 trackpad is abysmal. It’s unresponsive - at best - and really ruins the user experience. If Google were to release the Cr48 for consumer purchase, it would deservedly fail on this point alone.
The Cr48 screen is a matte (hooray!) widescreen LCD measuring 12” diagonally. Its quality is passable - though its viewing angles are lousy. That said, I’ve already mentioned that this notebook is not qualified to do any serious graphic work, so that’s not a big issue.
Overall, the Cr48 Chrome OS notebook is a worthy prototype and feels like it could be a big deal in the near future.
Personally, it can’t do most of what I use my computer for and I’m not planning to start doing all my work in Vim over SSH anytime soon. So, it will probably start collecting dust on a shelf after the testing phase is over.
It’s clear that Google is betting big on being the premier consumer-facing cloud-computing platform and, with the Cr48, I can see that happening. There are plenty of challenges to overcome - most importantly getting users used to working in the cloud and not thinking of their pictures, music, and other media as “on my computer”.
To succeed in this challenge, the user experience of Google’s Chrome OS notebooks needs to be impeccable. It’s imperative that they remove all roadblocks and frustrations in the user experience - app performance and the trackpad, namely - in order to succeed in convincing the world that computing in the Google cloud is the future.
Regardless, if the machine Google eventually releases fails to cause the revolution they’re looking for, the flood gates will have been opened.