I don't get why people are in a rush to poop on Chrome after 6 months when it's pretty clear Android followed the same path to success:
(1) get an inferior beta product out in the market early;
(2) then iterate both the product and the ecosystem so that
(3) when the category explodes you have a moat that makes you the default option.
We all know that decisions at Google, particularly for resource allocation are data driven. Google Docs is not good enough for the enterprise today. The only way it will be good enough in 2014 when thin clients explode is for resources to be allocated today which requires the 2011 Chromebook failure.
Android is a huge step forward from feature phones while ChromeOS is a huge step backwards from real PCs. It's almost the exact opposite of Android in many ways. Android is probably the most capable SmartPhone platform in a booming market. ChromeOS is probably the least capable platform in the depressed market for PCs. It's almost comical how juxtaposed the two are. I think Google's model is sound enough just the wrong product at the wrong time. I'm also not sure the OEMs making ChromeBooks were let in on the failure guarantee thing. Sounds like another Logitech/Google TV situation developing. Will they still be making ChromeBooks in 2 years?
If a device has the same form factor and approximately the same price I'd say it's in the same category by most standards. If part of Google's plan is to get ChromeBooks down to $99 or maybe $199 then it might be successful.
They're selling to businesses who know the price tag of an item isn't what it says on the package. Google believes they can reduce your IT costs enough that a ChromeBook pays for itself. It's not a race to the bottom, it's a race to the Cloud.
The problem is there aren't a lot of enterprises that are (yet) completely web based. It's going that way and there are more every day, but Google's still ahead of the curve with ChromeOS.
Don't be a dick, you know exactly what I mean. From the FA:
"Analyzing Chromebooks' difficult situation, the sources pointed out that although Google is mainly pushing Chromebooks in the enterprise market, its Google Docs applications cannot meet the needs the enterprise users."
(1) get an inferior beta product out in the market early;
(2) then iterate both the product and the ecosystem so that
(3) when the category explodes you have a moat that makes you the default option.
We all know that decisions at Google, particularly for resource allocation are data driven. Google Docs is not good enough for the enterprise today. The only way it will be good enough in 2014 when thin clients explode is for resources to be allocated today which requires the 2011 Chromebook failure.