This post was mentioned on Twitter by DanielEran: New: Google outlines Chrome OS plans for netbooks – http://tinyurl.com/ylq9oxr...

I know a lot of people for who this wouldn’t work. But let’s face it. I’m a geek. Most of the people I know are really into computers, and use them for producing TV shows, producing music videos and recordings, graphics editing, etc. I don’t think that the average person is going to be doing that much CPU/GPU intensive work.

And that’s the key. Roughly Drafted readers aren’t average computer users. What looks like a disaster to us, may look great to Joe Average, and may sell quite well. The only way to be certain is wait and see.

Unless you have Doc Brown’s Delorean parked in your garage.

Doesn’t matter if you lose your computer you can always get more ads.

On a different tangent.

Anyone else see a striking resemblance to Windows 3.xx

But what seems to happend when people start to understand computers and get good at them, is that they start producing. For a content creator, cloud computing will always be like that preloaded BASIC, while a real computer is like Assembler and C.

Another thing, that scares me, is that ChromeOS takes a step towards separating the user from the CPU. We’re slowly loosing the power over our own CPUs. I fear that it will be too late when we realize that whoever controls the CPU controls everything. Watch it happend.

But I have to admit its kinda cool

On second thoughts, MS is barely reactor. All its responses have been half-hearted because all strategic responses only offer profits in the long term while immediately hurting known revenue streams – especially MS-Office revenue.

In fact, MS barely factors in to a world of razor thing hardware margins and ubiquitous high speed web.

Chrome OS will feed off and build on a momentum of these rich web experiences which are developing due to external market conditions, rather than trying to spark development ala iPhone.

Bottom Line: Google’s business model makes Chrome OS a win-win no matter how it is received in the market. It is a pretty easy assumption that it will, at the very least, continue to push personal computing into the cloud, thus sending more eyeballs to the internet and to Google’s advertising.

Are we going towards cloud computing? I feel reluctant for several reasons and yes, speed, simplicity and security are are amongst them so they are not completely foolish at Mountain View. But the best way in assessing the chances of cloud computing right be to look at what I’m doing right now. I am commenting a blog (Wordpress I assume) in a Safari browser. God knows where the harddisk is located that contains the actual information. Daniel might own a typewriter to produce his articles – or maybe he secretly maintains a folder of Word files on his PC – but chances are the article above has been directly edited in Wordpress, a task that would be perfectly suited for Chrome OS. So, while for some reason still opposing the concept, we inevitably already live in the cloud.

Overseeing the consequences, I think, is intellectually challenging. The idea of putting all of my Office documents on a Google server in Mountain View is creepy to me, like I am voluntarily surrendering to Big Brother. Running Wordpress feels more comfortable when I can choose where it is hosted and what security measures apply. Maybe I trust my local ISP (maybe not), maybe I want to pay Amazon, maybe I can hide my own Mac mini server in my own private closet. I wouldn’t trust any free service that somehow has to monetize my confidentialities…

So yes, great news from Google, and yes, Microsoft is not likely to survive and still… I need some moments to digest.