CRIMPing in the future.

Posted by Dr Andus
Sep 10, 2017 at 02:08 PM

Paul Korm wrote:
>And that’s why there’s no *real*
>ubiquitous computing yet. With respect, what I am envisioning is not
>what Dr Andrus points out as existing today—I think of what he
>discusses as being more of a proof-of-concept than a product end state.
> It will get better—due to society’s insatiable demand for data,
>feature and function.

The future is already here, in the sense that various conceptions of the future are competing with each other in the present, as beta features or strategic plans. The question is which vision is going to be the winner.

I’m not saying Chrome OS (+Android) are perfect or already there yet, but as far as pure Chrome OS (Chromebooks, Chromeboxes, Chromebases, and Chromebits) goes, ubiquitous computing is possible, as each device is a near perfect copy (as long as you don’t save stuff to the local drive).

As far as I can see, Apple and Microsoft have been both caught out by the emergence of the Chrome OS model, and they are playing catch-up. However, it’s a lot harder to try to turn Windows or a Mac OS into a ‘dumb terminal’ type system as an after-thought, then having it designed like that on purpose, bottom-up, as Google has done.

I was also one of those laughing at the first Chromebook when it came out, thinking why on earth would anyone want a computer that’s just a glorified browser. But once you get used to the convenience of the ‘dumb terminal’ model, it’s hard to go back.

Crimping in the Chrome OS context means finding online alternatives or Chrome browser extensions and apps (and gradually, Android apps, once all Chromebooks get Android) to replicate functions otherwise provided by traditional computer software.

There are still limitations, and I am not ready to give up my Windows 7 laptop yet, but the trend has been for me a gradual transition to using Chrome Drive and the Chrome browser (with extensions) even within my Win 7 machine.