What’s the problem Google is trying to solve
Easy, cheap, nice to use Netbook. Good for using the internet.

What’s supposed to make ChromeOS different?
From a phone OS? The fact that it’s not a phone OS, obviously. It’s made for a netbook.

Fingerprint scanner?
If you really want a fingerprint scanner to work with your netbook, this probably isn’t for you. Linux is probably for you. This is for using the internet, without a fingerprint scanner. Want to hack together a beautiful monstrosity, cool. Go for it. Either Windows or Linux is probably your preference. Choice is great.

There is a distinction between “I don’t want this” & “Nobody would want this.” I use a phone that cost $75 5 years ago. Some people want iphones.

I don’t have an iPod, but my Zune, and my Windows Mobile phone work with my Bluetooth Fingerprint scanner. Haven’t tried it yet on my wife’s Palm Pre, or my sister’s Nokia SymbianOS phone.

1) Google are not expecting Verizon, AT&T, Sprint or anybody else (BTW, there is a world outside the US too) to do anything. They are expecting the market to. In fact they are expecting the market to do tomorrow what it did yesterday. That’s all.

There is a trend going on. Today, a certain number of people are connected to the internet most of the time. Tomorrow this number will be higher then today.

Are you really disputing either of these?

2) Two complimentary points:

– Not competing with Microsoft: Not allowed at your company? Don’t buy it for your staff. That’s it. It is allowed at some companies. Some consumer electronics have been sold outside of companies before. If that cuts the market in half, no problem.
– Trend is Good: Google docs is not the only option. Any web app works. How many companies use Outlook Web Access? There are already document solutions companies can install on their own servers. There are lots of little things going on & there is no reason to go in to all of them. The trend is that more companies/people are using web apps/web storage & problems like security are being solved. The trend is not a bad one to bet on.

3 & 4) Open Source means nothing to the user. It does mean that if Google gets in to a fight with Dell & doesn’t approve their machine, they cannot lock them out. If some company thinks they are being held back by Google’s policies, they can DIY & be on par with Google with very little resources. Does it bring down the barrier to the point where any user can hop it? Absolutely not. But it does bring it down to the point that virtually any technology company (even <10 people) can.

4) If you want a bluetooth fingerprint scanner to work with a ChromeOS netbook you are missing the point. This is not a replacement for you mac or linux or whatever you use. Keep those. You still need them. This is for the internet. It may mean you use it less because a lot of the stuff you do on your main computer you can do on ChomeOS. That is overlap, not replacement.

Do you complain that your Ipod won't talk to your fingerprint scanner?

Linux has a bad time because Linux tries to be your PC. It is usually installed by the user on a machine they already have. These are not a problem Chrome is trying to solve.

If you are still thinking 'but it doesn't do what my other computer does' you are really missing the point. It's like saying that a bicycle doesn't do what your tractor does.

1) You’re kidding, right? Google is depending on others like Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and so on to spend hundreds of millions to upgrade and extend their infrastructure, so that ChromeOS will work? If I was running one of the aforementioned companies, I’d tell Google, “You want your OS to run on netbooks anywhere? Why don’t you kick in some cash, so we can put the network in place to make it happen?”

2) Most organizations are still wary of placing their documents in the hands of a third party. SOX and HIPPA are two big reasons. Let’s not even begin discussion of anything that might be covered under Official Secrets rules. Google as document repository is still a security breach waiting to happen.

3)Open source? Isn’t that simply customer support by saying, “here’s the source code. Fix it yourself”?

4) So if I want, for instance, to have my bluetooth fingerprint scanner work with a ChromeOS netbook, I’m gonna have to write the driver and the interface? Get real, like an average consumer has the time or expertise to do device drver developement. Linux has a bad enough time with Wi-Fi and 3D video drivers, let alone ChromeOS.