I appreciate what Google is doing here and everything they have done in the short time they have been in power. However I am still a firm believer in pioneering. Microsoft & Apple along with the Open Source community pioneered everything that Google is using/selling. Just 2 years ago there were several accusations of companies taking open source code, packing it up as their own and then reselling it, it happens everyday I guess, I'm reading another article while I starting writing this.

Again, I appreciate what Google is doing here, but I have to stick with the pioneers and I don't like hardware being shoved down my throat that I cannot pick out myself. Sure I know, I don't have to buy it. I also feel like Google has taken a lot of open source code out there and cloned software to be like of those that were built by open source communities. They have stamped that software with their logo and because we are so used to Google being friendly we assume everything they do is ok.

I for one will not be buying the Chrome OS PC's, if they allow users to install on a platform of their choice for free or for a fee is fine with me. Maybe I'm just getting old, Apple and Microsoft along with players like Novell and more earned their right and took the bumps and bruises it takes to get where they are, whether you like them or not, you have to respect the pioneers that got us where we are today.

I'm off my soap box.

What I believe Com-Tek Chris is saying has a valid point; however, I think he missed the boat on whom Google needs to pay their due's to.. Sun Microsystems, now Orcale, for their Java IP infringements.

It seems to be very nice what the future has in stock for us all. But from where I live I see this re-occuring situation in which everything is very affordable until a big community starts to use it all and all of a sudden ISP's and cellphone operators "suddenly" realize that they can not keep the prices as low as they are. That is THE moment in which cloud computing is going to be the 2012 rip off. The technical idea behind it is very nice, I will admit that, but not having any local tools to use a.k.a. being fully dependent on your Wifi/Lan/whatever connection is not a wise solution in my humble opinion.

But hey, I live in Europe where we all get screwed big time.

I've been using the CR-48 since December, and I have to admit that it has far exceeded my expectations. But here's the key: My expectations were limited. That's quite the opposite of most who encounter the CR-48. If you need offline storage, proprietary software, or applications that simply aren't available online, then simply put, the CR-48 is not for you. For those needs, get a decent notebook or netbook. But that wasn't my expectation--mine was to be able to surf the Web (Chrome=done), access my Google-stored information (Gmail, Google Docs, PicasaWeb=done), do Web site maintenance and development (SSH, FTP using eyeOS, image editing ising Picnk and Pixlr, Joomla and Wordpress backend=done) and to try to establish online counterparts to the many offline tools that I regularly rely on. In most cases, I have found reasonable online solutions that have fit my needs. is there room for improvement? Absolutely!

Also, the "always-connected" aspect of the CR-48 is really taking an unfair beating, IMHO. Is this concept really so new? If you are a smartphone user, it's certainly not, because you already are always connected. How is the CR-48 really any different other than being a different form factor? While I agree that offline access to several Google Apps (particularly Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Reader) would be great, the truth is that I have yet to be in a situation with my CR-48 where I'm truly offline. I am either within range of a Wi-Fi access point, or I can enable the Verizon wireless service.

It's all about understanding just what cloud computing can and cannot do.