Google Chrome OS Devices

Taken from:
http://blogs.computerworld.com/20242/google_chrome_os_devices

Since 1982 my main computer has relied on a Microsoft Operating System - from MS-DOS - to Windows, to Windows NT to Vista to Windows 8.  BUT ... I have loved working with Google Chrome on the Internet - Chrome is favorite and default browser.

Now Google is coming out with new Chromebooks (laptops / notebooks).  The article suggested the price is too high - but ... that Google has a 'dirty little secret':

Here's the dirty little secret, though: Google isn't going after the individual consumer with its Chrome OS Chromebooks. Not at those prices. Sure, the G-Team will be delighted when an average consumer decides to pick up its product -- and for some of us, the value will be worth the cost -- but the true target here is almost certainly the world of business and education.
While the $450 to $550 cost may seem steep from a consumer perspective, for businesses and schools, the Chromebook is part of a bigger package. Full support -- both hardware warranty and 24-hour phone service -- and enterprise management tools are available for $150 per device for businesses and $30 apiece for schools. That's an eye-catching proposition: thirty dollars per system, with practically no training required and no need to worry about virus protection or labor-intensive software updates 

Now ... think about that ...full support - hardware, warranty, enterprise management - that could cut corporate support and corporate IT / help desk staffs down.  That is an attractive offer for education ($30 for full support - wow).  That can be a game changer for IT staffs.

Will it work - not immediately, but it can be attractive in the long run (and Google gets a larger foothold in the hardware area).