I really do think this chromeOS project is a dud, at least for its original purpose of serving the non-techie lite-user. In my mind I'm always comparing it to Android & iOS based laptops that I expect to come sooner or later. It's less powerful
- Not The Simplest - The point of web as an OS was simplicity. No worries about "managing" your computer: installing programs and dealing with files. In reality doing everything through the web it involves workarounds. Bottom line is that iOS & Android have simplified using a computer more.
- Not as good at videos and music.
- Less Powerful - Web apps have goten powerful, but not as powerful as it looked like they would get circa 2009. You still can't do a lot of things with webapps. What if Mick-first-used-a-computer-in-2011 gets an ipod? He needs itunes. What if his daughter wants to skype him?
Bottom line is I don't see why people will want a laptop that does less than their phone.
To counter your examples, Google would like you to use Google Music and Google+ Hangouts, both of which work on the Chromebook. As long as you keep yourself confined to the Google ecosystem, the Chromebook is quite powerful.
I thought the same until a couple coworkers and I got chromeboxes and google io. I don't code or even download images from my camera on it but it lives plugged into a monitor in the living room and the statelessness, fast boot and auto updates make it the perfect "forget about it until i need it for netflix or surfing the web" pc.
The window manager is also beautiful and I am hoping the os and ecosystem develop into something I can use for real work.
- Not The Simplest - The point of web as an OS was simplicity. No worries about "managing" your computer: installing programs and dealing with files. In reality doing everything through the web it involves workarounds. Bottom line is that iOS & Android have simplified using a computer more.
- Not as good at videos and music.
- Less Powerful - Web apps have goten powerful, but not as powerful as it looked like they would get circa 2009. You still can't do a lot of things with webapps. What if Mick-first-used-a-computer-in-2011 gets an ipod? He needs itunes. What if his daughter wants to skype him?
Bottom line is I don't see why people will want a laptop that does less than their phone.