Google To Offer Chrome OS Notebooks For $20/month 277
An anonymous reader writes "Hot on the heels of the $25 ARM computer, Google is to offer a $20 per month package for students, which includes a Chrome OS laptop (like the Cr-48) and an online component, which will likely include a storage bump for a user's Google Docs, Gmail, Picasa Web, and Google Music files. This would serve two purposes for Google: first, Google will be able to expand its existing user base for Chrome OS. For half the price of a typical cell phone contract, students will be able to pick up a netbook with 3G connectivity. Second, Google will be able to test the package offering publicly prior to eventually adding an enterprise version for Google Apps users."
Re:what next... (Score:5, Insightful)
Sure, if you believe you're losing nothing of value by granting Google access to all of your data, as well as a transferable, non-revokable, worldwide license-in-perpetuity to exploit all of your data as they see fit, it'll be totally free.
But honestly, with this plan, you're already granting Google a frightening level of control and access into every facet of your data... and paying them $20 a month for the privilege. I suspect Google will keep charging people a nominal fee, simply because they can.
Wait, no, I meant to say, "Yay Google, everything Google does is for the benefit of mankind because they mouth trite platitudes about not being evil. If they say it, they MUST mean it!"
I just bought something better (Score:3, Insightful)
A $300 netbook that I can use for $0/month! That's right, ladies and gents, zero dollars per month!
And that's not all. It's even capable of storing up to 320 GB of data INSIDE the device itself! How amazing is that? You can carry your data right along with you, and not have to depend on "the cloud" or have problems with their data breeches.
If I keep it for 5 years, that's $1200 saved compared to a $20/month plan. And since I have both 802.11 and a cell phone anyway, I can still get network connectivity anywhere.
It's a damn amazing thing, I tell ya what.
Re:what next... (Score:3, Insightful)
The only Godwinning has been done by yourself. Perhaps all geeks are fairly ignorant outside their field and can't think of any dictator except Hitler, so they insultingly simplify the experience of the hundreds of millions who have lived under dictators other than Hitler. Or perhaps it's just you.
By showing how ridiculous the behaviour of fanboys are, akin to cultish followers of an inhumane political philosophy who refuse to see or hear the negative, I appear to have received fairly angry responses. If you really thought my argument was absurd nonsense you'd have just ignored it. But you were annoyed by the suggestion that people leave all sense of balance and reason at the door even when it comes to a particular IT firm, and felt the need to handwave away the possibility without even tackling the accusation directly.
So how about tackling the accusation rather than the person, if you can? Maybe you'll find something about yourself.
Re:Same Price as a normal laptop (Score:4, Insightful)