I'm a PC (and a Mac), and Google Chrome OS Was My Idea

Yep. It's true. And I don't mean that in the good-natured, facetious way those Microsoft Windows 7 ads are using.

I've thought for a few years now that by the next generation, the way in which computers are used will be vastly different. During the last decade, the need for mobile computing has steadily skyrocketed. Not only has it been necessitated by the ever-increasing speed and demands of the business world; it's also become trendy to take your MacBook into a local coffee shop.

And when you're doing stuff on your computer -- business or pleasure -- you need access to whatever it is you're doing. Could be a project for work, a personal budget, or whatever. Not to mention keeping your entire iTunes library on hand to keep you sane while you work on said project.

Inevitably, you'll end up splitting this work (and pleasure) on multiple computers, creating the need to share files across your computers. While flash drives and home networking and such are, for now, making this easier, it's only a stopgap measure: eventually it'd be really nice if you could easily get to your stuff whenever you wanted to from anywhere, right?

Some applications already work this way. Online banking, for instance. And as time passes, more of the information you care about will be out there floating around on the internet, not on your hard drives. Thus, you'll only need your computers to gain access to the internet, which can store all of your data and information, as well as the tools necessary to interact with that data and information. We'll end up with "terminal machines" that are available pretty much anywhere for use by anybody. A side effect will be that the need for large amounts of local storage (i.e., your hard drive) will be significantly reduced or even eliminated.

In college, every student typically has an account provided by the institution that serves some of this function. Imagine if this concept was extended to the general public. That's where I think we're headed.

Now then, back to that outrageous claim in my blog title. Google seems to have embraced the idea that the internet will soon be all you really need to function, so they've created an operating system that supports this philosophy: Google Chrome OS, a Linux-based, open-source OS in which everything runs exclusively inside Google's web browser (which, by the way, is really fast and awesome, and is currently available for download if you're a Windows user).

I think I'll let the guys at Google explain it:



Slated for availability in late 2010, Chrome OS will run on netbooks whose hardware is specifically designed to support it. (One feature: smaller and flash memory-based hard drive. Most data will be stored on the internet, remember.) This WIRED article has a few more details.

If this idea does in fact catch on, I think it'll be pretty gradual. First you'll see people just doing basic tasks like checking e-mail, blogging, etc, on these web-based machines. But before you know it, you'll be using it for everything, including resource-intensive applications.

Only time will tell just how wrong I am.

P.S. I currently have 8 Google Wave invitations. If you want one, e-mail me.