Google's Chrome OS will be delivered this fall, it is another brick in the wall of the end of the PC Era
Lots of news around Google. First they announced that Chrome OS will be available this fall. Then the big hullabaloo over Google dropping Windows, allegedly for security reasons. If you don’t see the obvious connection here I have not one, but two bridges to sell you. We can dig more into that story though in a second. The real story for me is that we are seeing the end of the PC era right before our eyes. Events, technology and open source are lining up to move us out of last century’s dominant information systems platform and into the 21st century.
I was discussing this with a friend this weekend. For virtually my entire adult life computing for me has centered around the PC. I was never a big Mac user, but really what difference did it make. You had a computer plugged into the wall, it had a screen, mouse, keyboard, etc. You ran programs that appeared in windows and icons.
Over time they shrunk the box down to a laptop size. I still remember the laptop bricks that made my back hurt when I had to carry them around. The laptops kept getting smaller and wireless made for less wires that had to be plugged in. But it was still a PC. I used “productivity suite” (i.e. MS Office) software to create documents and sent and received them via email. In spite of everything over the last 30 years or so, it has remained pretty constant.
Rather than a revolution overthrowing the PC era, ala the 1984 Mac commercial, there has been an evolution to more and more mobile platforms. Open source software has played a great role in this evolution. It has accelerated innovation and brought competition to the marketplace.
Today when we look around we are seeing that the devices of choice of information warriors and the next generation is not a desktop or even a laptop. It is mobile devices. Smart phones, tablets, netbooks, etc. I don’t know what other kinds of devices we may see in the short term, but I don’t think they will be PCs.
We are on the cusp of a sea of change. My children, ages 10 and 8 will not grow up with the idea of a keyboard and mouse controlling their computing environment. Even now my 8 year old touches my wife’s computer screen sometimes, expecting to control it that way. If you have ever used voice activated search on your mobile phone, you know how empowering that is.
We are on the verge of finally ditching the x86 architecture and opening up a new century’s computing/communication devices. We probably have just scratched the surface of the myriad of devices that will be used. But one thing clear is that the PC will no longer have a stranglehold on us. Mind you, I am not saying they will go away. No they will linger and will always have some market share. But they won’t be dominant.
What flows from that is that the OS that was dominant on them, will not necessarily be dominant on this next generation of computing/communication devices either. This brings us back to Chrome and Google. Security had nothing to do with Google’s decision to phase out Windows (the jury is still out if that is even possible). They would not have announced that at the same time the announced Chrome OS shipping this fall with out an ulterior motive. Lets not be naive. This is all about Google paving they way for their own new OS. Between Android and Chrome OS Google figures they will have two horses in the biggest computing race of this generation. What OS will power the device you use predominantly for information and communication.
But Google is not alone. Intel and Nokia, Samsung and even now Linux itself are vying to be your OS of choice. Of course Apple and even Microsoft are still in the running too. But for me the thing to focus in on is how many of these OS candidates are built on open source foundations. Living proof that at the end of the day open source has shown not only can it be as good as closed systems, but dare I say it, even superior.
So say goodbye to your old PC and start thinking about what OS you want to power your new connection to the 21st century.
