Cloud Computing: Hands-On Review of Samsung Chromebook

Grazed from InformationWeek. Author: Thomas Claburn.

Google’s latest Chrome OS device, the third-generation Samsung Chromebook, isn’t quite disposable, but it’s so affordably priced–$249, or $330 with 3G–that you could drop it and live with yourself. All your valuable data would be safe in some distant data center.

When Google senior VP Sundar Pichai introduced the new Samsung Chromebook at a media event in San Francisco on Thursday, he said, "To us, Chrome OS represents the most distilled form of cloud computing we can find."…

For Google, Chrome OS is not about the hardware, it’s about cloud services and online ad revenue. In the era of mobile devices and cloud computing, hardware no longer matters, at least not the way it did in the era of desktop computing. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos articulated the new reality at an event introducing the second-generation Kindle Fire last month. "People don’t want gadgets anymore," he said. "They want services that improve over time."…

Read more from the source @ http://www.informationweek.com/hardware/desktop/samsung-chromebook-hands-on-review/240009449