Chrome OS -- Concept

[nslay]

In any event, the idea behind this operating system is to accommodate people who already do some portion of their computing in the cloud, and want the ability to do that on a netbook without all the extra bells and whistles to slow them down. It is not designed to force the masses in to getting rid of their hard drives.

Right, but mass adoption could sway vendors like Dell to produce, essentially, modernized dumb terminals.  This would be a secondary affect rather than necessarily Google's objective.  I've seen mixed responses about Chrome OS on the net so mass adoption is probably not likely.

[Camel]

I sincerely doubt that cloud computing will ever replace traditional desktop computing. It's ideal for netbooks, and it probably won't thrive anywhere else.

[Joe]

I think that by Moore's law, cloud computing for processing power will be completely useless. Couple that with the fact that cell phone companies just will not give you a cheap data plan (making your data inaccessible, away from wifi), I don't even see cloud computing useful for netbooks.

The only good use of cloud computing I can understand is for projects like Boinc, where you're simply adding additional processing power to an extensible task, like chemistry equations or prime calculation.

[iago]

Moore's law will affect the cloud things as much as it affects the average person.

[Camel]

Couple that with the fact that cell phone companies just will not give you a cheap data plan (making your data inaccessible, away from wifi), I don't even see cloud computing useful for netbooks.

The people that would appeal to most likely already have data plans for their iPhones or whatever. You don't need to pay for two accounts, though they certainly wouldn't object to you paying for two. I have a USB card that lets me use my phone's unlimited data plan on my MacBook without the phone's assistance. Very handy, because tethering demolishes the phone's battery.

[rabbit]

And besides, AT&T's data plan is like $15/month for unlimited data.

[MyndFyre]

And besides, AT&T's data plan is like $15/month for unlimited data.

Too bad that you can't get data anywhere.  But - you get that unlimited nothing! :P

[rabbit]

And besides, AT&T's data plan is like $15/month for unlimited data.

Too bad that you can't get data anywhere.  But - you get that unlimited nothing! :P

Well you can get it almost anywhere in the northeast, which happens to be where I live.

[Joe]

Verizon's unlimited data plan is 5GB per month. The "unlimited" is unlimited time.

[Camel]

No, that's a widely circulated myth. When you buy the tethering package, they run you through a special proxy server that limits you to 5GB of tethered data, but there's no limit on handset data.

[Joe]

Well, that's retarded.

[while1]

Yeah, the biggest thing keeping me from getting a DROID is I'm too cheap to cough up $90/mo for the data + voice plan.  I already pay $39.99 for the cheapest voice plan of 450 minutes with no text messaging because I suck at txting without a qwerty keyboard, iTAP sucks balls.  Adding the data plan is going to jack up the price even more than just having my voice plan... The fact that I don't even use my phone to talk that much, I should have went with a prepaid phone had I known better at the time- Verizon screwed me over because once my dad kicked me off his account and I had to get moved to my own account, and since I had no credit history at the time and they made me cough up $400 for a security deposit.  I wasn't even attached to a contract (and still am not, fuck Verizon), and when I wanted to move to a pre-paid plan and get my $400 security deposit back, I was told I'd lose the $400 deposit if I went to a pre-paid plan.   WTF.

The only reason I'm still with Verizon right now is because the fucktards have my $400 security deposit and won't give it back until 1 year... even though I'm paying month-to-month.  Fuckers.

I can't wait until 6-8 months, by then I should be getting around $1,000 in security deposits from various places.  Now that I have a shitty credit card with a $300 fisher price credit limit, I at least won't get gg'd anymore by security deposits.

Man, I'm angry today!

[Sidoh]

My friend said he pays $30/mo for his data plan... I don't think that was unlimited, but it sounded like it was more than I could ever use.

[Blaze]

I pay $30 for 6GB, and that includes being able to tether.  I don't think I've ever used more than 2GB in a month.

[Camel]

The base price of VZW's unlimited data plan is $30/mo, but you get 20% off (of the unlimited data plan) if you renew your contract when you buy a droid. That stacks with other discounts - for example, I get another 10% off for working at my company.