January 3, 2006
Not just Google OS…but Google Computer
We’ve all heard the rumors about a Google OS. Now, there are rumors of a Google computer, termed the Google Cube.
Rumor is they will announce at CES were Larry Page is a keynote speaker. The plan on selling/distributing through WalMart who once sold the cheap Lindows (and variants of Linux including SUSE) computer. They will be using their own OS, avoiding the high price of Windows OS and allowing them to sell the computer cheaply.
The idea is that they have built many apps using AJAX that mimic desktop apps so they could provide a cheap network PC or kiosk that would simply use their apps in place of their thick client equivalents (i.e. Gmail in place of Eudora).
With their PPC Ads, how long until they go from the cheap PC to a free one that used spyware/adware to serve ads and/or track user behavior (such as Idealab’s free-pc/the former emachines, etc)? They’ve already given away free Internet…if they can get users to use broadband so that they are always online, constantly serving ads on their computer would probably pay for those computers within 6 months to a year for the average user…especially if users must register and they get to have the users’ addresses (I’ve noticed buying clicks for terms locally have gotten relatively expensive lately…and I still cannot get the supply I seek).








Daniel Volkovich said,
January 15, 2007 @ 1:57 am
Makes sense. Besides, if anyone can realize the vision promised by thin clients and network PCs - it’s definitely Google.
By using AJAX’s low footprint to distribute computing back to the server, they have in a way continued the trend of client/server computing so heavily pushed by Microsoft’s and their COM components as the end all solution to complexity. Too bad MSN did not deliver.
Google’s main advantage in bringing new ideas to market is not just being the brand recognized for simplicity and speed, but actually delivering the promised results. This remarkable agility can be attributed to their non-hierachical organizational structure. Lets see what happens with the push to bring cheap computing into developing countries.
Daniel Volkovich, CTO
http://gigavoice.com