Computers Chromebook

I didn't know about the Java issue.

I'd say I'm about middling, knowledge wise, for someone of my age who hasn't worked in a tech intensive field. As far as producing content - in my case, that's been limited to word processing, spreadsheets and related stuff.

I think that, as with anything, there will always be people who have an interest in and/or need to know all of the details of the how and why of the way things work, others who don't have any interest in knowing any of it, and a whole spectrum in between.

It always surprises me how emotopn laden this subject is. :p
 
Annia said:
I don't understand this mentality that if you want to use a machine that you have to know exactly how the machine works before you are allowed to use it. Just smacks of bloody elitism, if you ask me.
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Personally, I'm quite content with other people being dumbed down. That makes me more special, since I know all this stuff. The less the younger generation knows about computers and the Internet, the more I know, relatively speaking. At the end of the process I will be like the gods themselves. The future is bright!
 
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Indian Summer said:
Personally, I'm quite content with other people being dumbed down. That makes me more special, since I know all this stuff. The less the younger generation knows about computers and the Internet, the more I know, relatively speaking. At the end of the process I will be like the gods themselves. The future is bright!
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It's interesting you should say that. My concern about this scenario was promted by a book written by Anthur C. Clark. In it, the protagonist comes across this society where the leaders are those in control of the computers. But the computers had been built by their long dead ancestors, and the current "admins" didn't know how to fix them, so the protagonist concludes that the society would collapse when the computers started breaking down.
 
I'm now reading that the Chrome OS does indeed not allow you to install applications locally. It will only allow you to install web apps that run "in the cloud". Presumably you'll be locked in to Google's apps only. That's ridiculous and a total blocker for me, I'm afraid.
 
Indian Summer said:
I'm now reading that the Chrome OS does indeed not allow you to install applications locally. It will only allow you to install web apps that run "in the cloud". Presumably you'll be locked in to Google's apps only. That's ridiculous and a total blocker for me, I'm afraid.
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Yep, it's already happening.

First you loose control of basic configuration settings (color scheme, font size, etc), then you loose control of where you can save your content, then loose control of the software used (never actually own it, as it's in the cloud with DRM), it's only a matter of time before they prevent ad blockers.

In terms of cloud software, Microsofts latest version of Office is not only cloud based, but you have to paay a monthly fee instead of owning it outright. I haven't looked into closely, but I bet the monthly fees, over the course of 1 to 2 years probably adds up to more than the cost of a physical copy.
 
So they want you to pay for the privilege of not being allowed to control your own computer. Good luck selling that.
 
A lot of things seem to be going that way now... more about access than ownership. Now it's software, but the same thing is happening with films and TV. Take Netflix and LoveFilm as examples.
 
spud said:
A lot of things seem to be going that way now... more about access than ownership. Now it's software, but the same thing is happening with films and TV. Take Netflix and LoveFilm as examples.
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Yes, I suspect it's easier to control distribution and make piracy more difficult that way maybe.
 
Well, I admit to be looking at Chromebooks again after a colleague told me about ChromeOS Developer Mode which apparently allows for installing both Debian and Ubuntu (and derivatives) alongside ChromeOS. However, ChromeOS is still focusing on cloud storage:
You have some storage on your device for those times you need to access a file without access to the internet, but for everything else you can access and store it in the cloud. And your Chromebook comes with 100GB of free Google Drive storage for 2 years.
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From here: Make the Switch
My colleague was doing all his work in Debian and Ubuntu, and the ChromeOS didn't appear to be doing much for him.

Well, if I find a cheap Chromebook with good specs, I might be tempted. Doubt I will keep the ChromeOS, though.
 
Indian Summer said:
Well, I admit to be looking at Chromebooks again after a colleague told me about ChromeOS Developer Mode which apparently allows for installing both Debian and Ubuntu (and derivatives) alongside ChromeOS. However, ChromeOS is still focusing on cloud storage:

From here: Make the Switch
My colleague was doing all his work in Debian and Ubuntu, and the ChromeOS didn't appear to be doing much for him.

Well, if I find a cheap Chromebook with good specs, I might be tempted. Doubt I will keep the ChromeOS, though.
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You'd be able to run Ubuntu with this baby: Find Yours

I've been using a Chromebook for the past few months as my Windows laptop went kaput, and I like it a lot. The downside is the lack of storage space, but I've compensated for that by keeping an SD card with a lot of my data on it connected to the computer.
 
Scorpius said:
You'd be able to run Ubuntu with this baby: Find Yours

I've been using a Chromebook for the past few months as my Windows laptop went kaput, and I like it a lot. The downside is the lack of storage space, but I've compensated for that by keeping an SD card with a lot of my data on it connected to the computer.
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That's cool, having your data on an SD card. Makes a lot of sense.

I suppose the only cloud storage that ChromeOS allows for is Google's ("Google Drive"?) or is it possible to use others as well? It would be cool if I could use configure it to use my own virtual private server as cloud storage, or cloud storage at Amazon etc.
 
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