Eugene Computer Geeks Blog

Google ChromeBook Laptop

If you are tired of running virus scanners, clean-up utilities, disk defragmenters, firewalls, and tired of having to ask a relative or neighbor to get your machine working again (or worse- having to pay someone to do it) then cloud-based computing may be for you.  ChromeOS is designed to be an extremely fast operating system, start up in less than 10 seconds, and resume from sleep instantly.

One very important thing to note is that most Chromebooks do not have much storage space.  I haven’t seen one with anything bigger than a 16 gigabyte solid state drive. However, you can use online storage, like Box.com and Google Drive.  Setup for Chromebooks is suprisingly simple:  start it up, connect to your wifi network, and you’re ready.  A Chromebook is a fantastic laptop to give to someone who isn’t computer-literate.  For advanced users, it may not be the best laptop.  You can’t run Windows applications, and most “applications” (which are just shortcuts for a website) require an internet connection.

The Chromebooks were designed with security in mind: websites run sandboxed which means that malware can only affect what’s inside the sandbox, and can’t affect anything that is outside of it.  The Chromebooks also have some features which would be extremely appealing to consumers, like it’s fast boot- the Chromebook is ready to be used in less than 8 seconds.  Cloud storage is also a very convenient feature built into the Chromebook- you can take your files anywhere (with an internet connection, anyway).

There are also some disadvantages to Chromebooks.  Is it the best idea to rely primarily on Google’s servers, with all the news of break-ins and data loss?  The Chromebook is also linked with your Google account: Google could potentially collect more information about you this way.  You also have less choice when using a Chromebook.  Would you buy a laptop with an operating system where you had to use the default browser?  To take advantage of most of the Chromebook’s features, you also need a good internet connection.  Most Chromebooks come with Verizon 3G internet built in, but Verizon only gives you 100 megabytes/month.  100 megabytes can go pretty quick.

The Chromebook essentially is a web browser.  It can’t run Windows applications, however, but you can access other machines running Windows on your Chrome device.  With Chrome Remote Desktop, a web application for Chrome, you can access and run software stored on any of your other computers, over the internet.

Overall, the Chromebook would be a fantastic laptop to give to someone who isn’t very computer-literate.  They’re fast, offer tons of web applications, backs up with Google’s cloud storage automatically, and have anti-virus and security measures built in.  They also automatically update, so the user doesn’t need to worry about constantly needing to update their laptop.  Chromebooks also have very good battery life- 6 to 8 hours of usage.  Most users primarily use web applications and spend most of their time on the internet.  The Chromebooks would fit the needs of most users, but the more advanced users may not like the operating system.

        Android fragmentation is slowly killing Android itself.  86.7% of all Android phones (as of July 2, 2012) are running Android 2.3 Gingerbread or older.^[1]  This goes to show that most Android users are running budget phones- they didn’t buy the phone because it has Android or applications that they like; they bought it because it was cheap.

        This also represents a security flaw:  Android 2.3 and earlier have exploits in the operating system, which can be used to run arbitrary code on your device without your knowledge.^{[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]}

        Most users won’t be able to take advantage of Android’s newest features because of Android’s infamous fragmentation.^[7]  Even if you don’t care about getting new features, there’s always the matter of reliability.  Most people don’t get a new phone very often because of their contracts.

        This means that their on-contract phone is stuck with pre-installed applications from the carrier that can’t be removed, or applications that used to work and no longer do because of the developer abandoning support for old versions of Android.^[8] [9]

        What does this mean for the future of Android?  Users will remember their initial impressions on their carrier branded phone:  slow, bloated, insecure, and unreliable.  That means that when it’s time for them to get a new phone, they would steer away from Android phones. What most people don’t realize that this isn’t Android’s fault: it’s actually their carrier’s fault.

        Even Google employees are frustrated at the fragmentation: it even drove one Google employee to choose Apple’s iOS over Android for his application.^[10]  This sends strong message to developers of Android: they should pick an operating system which has a centralized operating system, like iOS or Windows Phones.

        There is also the option of buying an unlocked Galaxy Nexus, straight from Google.  The GSM version of the Galaxy Nexus gets updated to the latest version of Android, and is maintained by Google.  Even though it’s hardware is somewhat dated at this point, it still runs extremely fast and fluid, and you get updates to the newest version of Android almost as soon as they come out.  One problem: Google submitted to the carriers.  Unless you buy the GSM unlocked version straight from the Google Play store, the carriers can hold the update hostage.  Verizon and Sprint versions of the Galaxy Nexus are still officially on dated versions of Android.  This further illustrates Google’s unwillingness to stand up to the carriers and say something along the lines of “we upgrade the phone, we won’t give you the phones to sell” (see: Apple).^[11]

        The solution is clear: Android needs to have much stricter guidelines.  Google knows that this is a problem, despite denying it in the past.^[12] [13]  Google has even tried to fix this in the past, but has failed.^[14]  Google needs to step down and force the carriers and manufacturers to support their devices for the length of the consumer’s contract, and deliver updates in a timely manner.  They should also step down on bloatware.  It’s amazing that the iPhone fixed this issue 5 years ago, yet Android, being the fast paced mobile operating system it is, has not yet fixed this issue.

Google does not offer an official technical support chat, or live technical support of any kind. The best way to get help with ANY Google related problem is to ask for help in their Support Forum, which has users that work from Google, or people that volunteer their time to helping others with Google related problems.

Google Support Forum

You can also find answers to common Google-related questions in the Google Help Center.

Eugene Computer Geeks offers tech support in our 100% free Computer Help Chat.  No registration, No advertisements, No hidden fees.  Just free computer help by volunteer technicians.

“Inside the Mind of Google” – Full Length Video Documentary

Very well done film on Google by Maria Bartiromo.

Just when I thought I knew everything there was to know about Google, I watched this documentary and learned all kinds of new things.

Like them or hate, Google is still the best search engine, and personally I feel they are doing great things considering how large and powerful they are.

I remember the first time I encountered Google back in 2000.  After spending lots of time trying to find the perfect search engine(I thought Yahoo was the best search engines were ever going to get), I was sceptical to give Google a try. After my first time searching, I’ve been hooked ever since. There algorithm is flawless, and the search results were the most relevant I’d ever received from a search engine.

I love how they are Linux based and consistently provide excellent products which have almost always been totally free. The internet would be a totally different thing without Google.

Google has totally changed the way we receive and interact with information.

Highly recommend anyone that uses the internet watches this film. Discover the secrets behind Google, and how it became what it is today.