Google PC
Sorry for the long absence of posts, everyone. I have recently been lazy, playing Fallout Tactics and leaving for skiing. However, I am going to try to get back into the swing of things after not posting for around a month. I have three topics I want to post on, and that should make for three days straight of posts. Hopefully I will have more ideas by the end of those three days. Maybe I will even decide that eventually I will have to post about the Canadian elections. For now, I will avoid politics and Canada for that matter and talk about Google.
Introduction
On Friday, many are expecting Google to unveil a barebones PC running a Google OS or some device of the sort. The no-frills PC is expected to be unveiled this Friday by Larry Page during his keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The computer is expected to follow many ideas of the Mac Mini in making itself small and cost-effective. Since the speculated PC would not use Windows or other Microsoft products, it can cost under $200.
The biggest shock of the mainstream speculation about Friday’s announcement is Google’s partnership with Wal-Mart. Google enthusiasts speculate that Google will work with Wal-Mart in getting the hardware to the user. I find the news particularly interesting because only a short while ago, Wal-Mart was said to be finding ways to work against Google, because they were afraid the search engine could divert people form their stores.
Google has not confirmed any of the rumors, simply stating that “we do not comment on rumor and speculation”.
The Computer
I find the Google PC as an interesting way to introduce Google and Google OS to the shopper. However, I am not as optimistic as many speculators on such a drastic release. I am not sure if Google wants to throw itself into the world of low profit margin PCs. Through Google OS they would be able to propagate their adds, search engine and other software, but to who? Most people who would buy up these PCs are most likely Google users already. If Google is unveiling some sort of consumer hardware then I think it is more likely to be of the mobile sort. A device to harness the power of the Wi-Fi network Google has started to build. Google has recently been cooperating with Opera, a web browser company. Opera, on their part, has been working on Opera Mini, a browser made for low end Java-enabled mobile devices. I understand a Google device would most likely not need Opera Mini, but what Opera is doing shows interest towards mobile communication and I believe Google shares that interest.
Personally, I do not think Google is ready to leap into the consumer PC market right now. I think what Google needs to unveil first is a server PC. A cheap PC, running a server version of Google OS that is tailor made to work well with the Google Network. The Server PC would be a way for companies to have cheap servers that are easier to access by anyone using Google search. After setting their groundwork in Google servers, Google could expand out to making computers for the general public and creating that Google sub-internet I dreamed about not only through software but with their own hardware to back it all up.
The Alliance
The possible cooperation with Wal-Mart seemed foolish to me at first but after a bit more thought I realized that it is ingenious. If Wal-Mart is afraid of Google and thinking of measures to work against them, then why not subdue Wal-Mart and not have a threat to worry about? Working with Wal-Mart would be the best way for Google to reduce hostility from the giant. With Google and Wal-Mart cooperating together, the people at Wal-Mart would have much less reason to hatch ideas on combating against Google.
Even with that justification, the deal still seems strange to me.
Conclusion
For now all the Google PC information is not true information, but mere speculation. Google is a rather secretive company, and I guess we will not know what they are unveiling until the speech on Friday. I will keep looking into the matter and post more on the matter if anything materializes in Larry Page’s address.
Introduction
On Friday, many are expecting Google to unveil a barebones PC running a Google OS or some device of the sort. The no-frills PC is expected to be unveiled this Friday by Larry Page during his keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The computer is expected to follow many ideas of the Mac Mini in making itself small and cost-effective. Since the speculated PC would not use Windows or other Microsoft products, it can cost under $200.
The biggest shock of the mainstream speculation about Friday’s announcement is Google’s partnership with Wal-Mart. Google enthusiasts speculate that Google will work with Wal-Mart in getting the hardware to the user. I find the news particularly interesting because only a short while ago, Wal-Mart was said to be finding ways to work against Google, because they were afraid the search engine could divert people form their stores.
Google has not confirmed any of the rumors, simply stating that “we do not comment on rumor and speculation”.
The Computer
I find the Google PC as an interesting way to introduce Google and Google OS to the shopper. However, I am not as optimistic as many speculators on such a drastic release. I am not sure if Google wants to throw itself into the world of low profit margin PCs. Through Google OS they would be able to propagate their adds, search engine and other software, but to who? Most people who would buy up these PCs are most likely Google users already. If Google is unveiling some sort of consumer hardware then I think it is more likely to be of the mobile sort. A device to harness the power of the Wi-Fi network Google has started to build. Google has recently been cooperating with Opera, a web browser company. Opera, on their part, has been working on Opera Mini, a browser made for low end Java-enabled mobile devices. I understand a Google device would most likely not need Opera Mini, but what Opera is doing shows interest towards mobile communication and I believe Google shares that interest.
Personally, I do not think Google is ready to leap into the consumer PC market right now. I think what Google needs to unveil first is a server PC. A cheap PC, running a server version of Google OS that is tailor made to work well with the Google Network. The Server PC would be a way for companies to have cheap servers that are easier to access by anyone using Google search. After setting their groundwork in Google servers, Google could expand out to making computers for the general public and creating that Google sub-internet I dreamed about not only through software but with their own hardware to back it all up.
The Alliance
The possible cooperation with Wal-Mart seemed foolish to me at first but after a bit more thought I realized that it is ingenious. If Wal-Mart is afraid of Google and thinking of measures to work against them, then why not subdue Wal-Mart and not have a threat to worry about? Working with Wal-Mart would be the best way for Google to reduce hostility from the giant. With Google and Wal-Mart cooperating together, the people at Wal-Mart would have much less reason to hatch ideas on combating against Google.
Even with that justification, the deal still seems strange to me.
Conclusion
For now all the Google PC information is not true information, but mere speculation. Google is a rather secretive company, and I guess we will not know what they are unveiling until the speech on Friday. I will keep looking into the matter and post more on the matter if anything materializes in Larry Page’s address.
Labels: google, technology
posted by Artem Kaznatcheev at 6:35 PM
2 Comments:
You might want to read this.
Fallout is an amazing series. Absolutely staggeringly amazing.
I prefer Fallout 2 to Fallout Tactics, however. That's just me.
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