At first, the concept of a true Microsoft rival brings to mind the early days of the Web, when Netscape (remember them?) speculated out loud that web browsers could become the “platform” of all personal computing, not replacing Windows but displacing Windows’ status as the foundation upon which the entire computer-using experience stands.
Specifically, Google’s announced (but not yet released) Chrome OS would be a combined OS and browser, intended initially for smaller notebook and netbook machines. Instead of “shrinkwrap” software, it would mostly act as a portal to online applications, including (but not limited to) Google Apps.
This begs the musical question, what would you do when you’re not connected?
Call me a relic of the floppy-disc era (which I am), but the term “personal computer” once meant a wholly functional device of one’s very own, not a mere “dumb terminal” that couldn’t work without a central network to plug into.
As the laptop concept emerged in the early 1990s, the principle of freedom from the office joined that of freedom from the mainframe.
But today, “wired” has given way to “wireless,” and the notion of the Big Brother central mainframe has given way to Internet server farms.
With cell-phone company data service, one can go anywhere (within the more populated zones of North America, that is) and be always “plugged in,” for a price.
For the rest of us, there’s WiFi, when and where we can find it. (Hint: If you’re buying a latte every weekday to get coffeehouse WiFi access, you’re not saving much over a phone company’s $60/month data plan.)
Still, my data (writing, pictures, music, work info, etc.) is my data. I want to have it, not just have access to it for a monthly fee.
Maybe I’m being “PC” about this instead of being “net-centric.”
Or maybe I’m just possessive.
I don’t care. I still want to have my backed-up hard drives, my digital “stuff.” And I want to be able to work and/or play with it whenever (even when there’s not a good wireless connection) and wherever (even on buses and planes).
