Sadly, I haven’t received my Cr48 yet, even though (are you listening Google? Email me and make me happy) I am a devout lover of Chrome and have moved most of my computing life into the cloud. But there is no doubt that Chrome is about to change the personal computing landscape.
Paul Thurrott explains why it is a huge threat to Microsoft in the latest installment of his excellent Google Chrome Vs. the World series. If there were a Pulitzer for blog writing, this series should win it. Probably the best tech read of the year, in part because a guy who likes Microsoft is trying to save Microsoft from itself.
Yes, Chrome is going to hurt Microsoft, and yes it will further extend Google’s empire. And it will be very good for consumers. Shoot, if I ever get a Cr48, it will immediately become my primary mobile computing device.
But I think Chrome will also help Apple, by being the final element in a lot of peoples’ decision to leave Windows forever, if not for Chrome, then for OS X with Chrome, in browser form or otherwise, installed. Sound crazy? Then consider this.
Just about everyone has capitulated to the iPhone. Yes, some geeks like Android, and there is no denying that it is a good option. But it just doesn’t have the penetration into the non-nerd set that the iPhone does. I know one person in the real world (e.g., people I regularly see face to face) who has an Android phone. I know one person in the real world who doesn’t have an iPhone. It’s the same guy. NOTE: Yes, I am excluding the sad masses who are chained to Blackberries because their companies have not realized that Blackberries are on the Palm road to obscurity.
Apple is soundly winning the handset war, at least for now. The new battle is for the everyday computing device. You know, what netbooks (ugh!) were supposed to be, but were not. Make no mistake, this battle will be fought in the browser.
And as I have told anyone who will listen, Chrome is by far the best browser. It’s not even close.
There are only four things I have to do regularly that I can’t do right now in a browser.
1. Edit photos with Photoshop. I can’t do that (yet) in Chrome, but I can on a Mac. Imagine if you will a MacBook, with the Chrome browser (if not somehow the OS in a Parallels-like configuration) installed. I could do just about everything in Chrome, and drop into OS X when I need to work with Photoshop. Nice.
2. Edit videos in a sane, easy Format. I am on record as to my dislike of the Mac video import and editing process. I certainly can’t (yet) edit videos the way I want to in a browser. For people like me who do a lot of video, this is a big issue. For most people not so much. Plus, at some point someone will come up with a workable cloud-based video editing solution. All of this doesn’t scream for a MacBook+Chrome device, but neither is it a strong enough chain to bind many folks to Windows. Yes, I know that many people believe Macs are infinitely better for video. I disagree, but all of those who feel that way are certainly not likely to choose a Windows-based computer over a Mac.
3. Manage iTunes. I’m also on record about the train-wreck, Apple-hampering mess that is iTunes. I hate it, but I have to use it for my iPhone and iPad. Once again, a MacBook+Chrome device would let me drop into OS X when needed. Certainly no reason to stay with Windows.
4. Write Blog Posts with Live Writer. How bizarre is it that Live Writer is the biggest thing tying me to Windows? I can’t overstate my love for Live Writer. But like Romeo and Juliet, it is a love that won’t last. There are too many forces aligned against a desktop based editing app and pointing to the cloud. The standard WordPress editor is not horrible (unlike the iPad app, which is). At some point I will have to say farewell to Live Writer. Unless, oh please, it finds a home in the cloud. Then I could use it in a browser.
Taking all of this into account, it seems to me that there are three paths to travel.
A. Chrome OS on a Cr48 or its successors. I sure would like to try this, Google. . . .
B. A MacBook+Chrome device. But for the video thing, I’d probably be there now. At a minimum, I expect Chrome in some form to become my primary day to day computing platform.
C. The status quo, via Windows. I’m not going to sell my Windows-based computers, but I am beginning to wonder if I’ll replace them when they grow old or die. Even now, the large majority of my computing is being done via the Chrome browser.
All paths involve Chrome in one form or another. One path definitely benefits Apple. Unless something unexpected happens, Windows may end up on the path less traveled.
As a less desirable metaphor.
Newsome.Org 
I don’t know. I like to keep some things in my domain. Meaning that I feel once you store them on the web, you’ve really lost all control over it. No one has proven to me that it’s secure enough.
I took the little Google “Life on the Web” test and I’m nearly there with the exception of programs like iTunes. I don’t have a problem with it (except with it’s lousy control of library files) at all. I have far too much music that is only available from the CD it came on. Pandora has no clue and I really don’t like .mp3’s I prefer to rip good music to CD quality files or better yet, just listen to the CD on a high quality stereo system. People don’t know what they are missing and it’s a case of letting “what the public wants” destroy a good thing. Traveling with music, the .mp3 is no doubt the best solution.