I came up with a new term today: Chrome dome. I defined this as “(n)someone who spends too much time thinking about the implications of Google’s Chrome OS. Sadly, I may be the biggest Chrome dome of all.
As soon as I heard news of Google’s plans to launch its owncompetitor to Microsoft Windows, I posted a comment on Twitter thatwent like this:
“If enterprise customers are still reluctant to move off of Windows XP, I don’t really see any demand for Google ChromeOS.”
Almost immediately I got feedback from Kevin Restivo, a former colleague from my days at CDN who later became an analyst with IDC Canada and a reporter for the National Post before coming back to IDC a few years ago. He made some interesting points, as did David George-Cosh, also a former National Posttech reporter who’s now based out of Abu Dhabi working for the Nationalnewspaper. The following is a transcript of our tweets, which bataround a few of the issues that are cropping up.
krestivo@shaneschick not sure we’re comparing apple with apples. manus. may bundle chrome OS with machines which gives it potential.
krestivo@shaneschick large enterprises won’t switch anytime soon but SMBs may experiment with it if $ is primary concern.
sschick@krestivo Maybe, but they’ll have to put a lot more marketing behind it to raise the awareness level at SMBs.
krestivo@shaneschick not if it comes bundled with the hardware. much depends on the deals google can strike with netbook & laptop manufacturers.
sschick@krestivo Yeah, I guess you’re right. It’llbe interesting to see who jumps on it from an OEM perspective. MaybeDell and HP on consumer PCs
itsdgc@shaneschick I don’t think Google would have to spend $$ to market it heavily. A couple links on Google.com would work handedly, eh?
sschick@itsdgc Maybe for geeks like us, but I don’t think the average SMB owner is necessary that tech-savvy.
itsdgc@shaneschick Dunno. I think u don’t give them as much credit. Sure most will be savvy enough to ident. a Google OS with its brand and adopt
sschick@itsdgc Well, I’ve been wrong before, but I actually don’t think a lot of people care that much about their OS anymore.
krestivo@shaneschick netbooks are a small part of the overall market + (to your point) google will need to co-market with HW cos to make a dent.
itsdgc@shaneschick To a point, u’re right, but if Google OS is free and does a whole lot of cool things – like not crash – I’m sure SMB will adopt
sschick@itsdgc That’s a good metric, actually. Perhaps we should do a story on “The tests Google Chrome OS must pass.”
itsdgc@shaneschick That’s a very good question/story to ask. I just think commenting on its success/failure now is WAY too premature.
Dave’s probably right, but I don’t think that’s going to stop thecomments from continuing, especially once this thing launches alongsideWindows 7.