A little Op-Ed about the Chromecast, the cloud and Google's phones

[LavallavaL]

Edited by author.

 

[wrecklass]

Hmm, where to start?

I don't think Google will be very interested in going up against Microsoft for a new desktop environment. That's bringing a knife to a thermonuclear war. Apple tried and went into hiding. The Linux community has tried and nobody outside of the FLOSS community is really aware.

Despite your anecdotal customer survey, nobody wants a desktop computing environment. With a few exceptions like video editors, software developers and hard core gamers. Even Microsoft is abandoning the desktop. The future is mobile with data in the cloud.

Don't look for Google to save you, their entire business is predicated on scanning data to improve Ad revenue.

I'm not familiar with the Ubuntu phone, and I'm going to bet very few consumers are either.

I suspect you are asking for a solution to a problem most people don't have.

Sent from my Nexus 7

 

[LavallavaL]

Edited by author.

 

[wrecklass]

Well one argument against your use case, it has a single point of failure. If you want a single device that stores all of your Apps and their data you lose the device and you've lost everything. Google, MS and Apple are all solving this problem by pushing the Cloud. Your data is everywhere, accessible on any device and backed up for you. For people and companies that aren't comfortable with data in the Cloud, there are private Cloud tools and I'm sure there will be more Cloud providers that include full encryption and data protection that will satisfy all but the most security conscious.

I think the truth is that Google is not very comfortable with pushing Android these days. It has been pointed out by several tech analysts that Google seems to be backing off a bit. The reason being that they have been hit with multiple licensing problems from Oracle, Microsoft and others over the Android OS. Many believe that Microsoft is making more money from Android with it patents infringement license than Google is making. I don't know if that is true, but it is hard to imagine that they want to line Microsoft's pockets any further. Not to mention the harm it has caused them with Apple.

Chromecast is an interesting case in point. They imply that the dongle is a Chrome based device, when in fact hackers have discovered that the underlying code is actually Android. Why would Google want to hide that fact and push the Chrome brand unless they were getting cold feet with Android. Honestly, Samsung is making more money from Android than Google has.

I think we will see a shift in the coming year as Google starts to play up more devices and service centered around Chrome and the ChromeOS. At least that system is their own code from top to bottom and is therefore unencumbered by the patent problems that has plagued Android for years.

Chrome, Cloud Data and Cloud services will be the direction we see out of Google in the future. Docks for Android devices will have to be taken on by Samsung or one of the other companies that push Android going further.

I suspect for what you want, Microsoft Surface Pro may be a better choice. Now it's a tablet, now it's an ultrabook! Many of the devices can even be expanded to use external monitors and keyboards.

 

[LavallavaL]

Edited by author.