So, Google is supposedly launching a $20 per month laptop (per Forbes). This will include hardware and software. What’s critical for the success of this is whether it’s “only” a web appliance or a fuller featured laptop. (ZDNet has a good discussion going on that.)
Personally, I expect it will have at least some offline capacity. Even in the Seattle area, expecting 24/7 web access is just not practical. And I’d like to think Google gets that. Without the ability to port to a coffee shop (yes, there are several without wifi…even around here), etc, the device’s usefulness for students is severely restricted. Heck, a simple power outage turns it into a paperweight brick.
Will such a thing have access to other Linux-like/Open Source apps, or be solely limited to Google apps? Will there be a GIMP, for instance? I would greatly miss a full featured image editor. Don’t know if that would be a deal-breaker, but…
I want to know how Google will deploy storage. Having a significant amount of the devices device’s storage cloud based would be unique, and allow work to be more portable. Especially across platforms. It would really need to be rather seamless, but that doesn’t look like a great challenge anymore. Perhaps that’s how a web device would be billed; you take your notes on the device and edit them on some other device.
Any of you going to run out and get one? Drop a note in the comments.
