It’s hard not to just start uttering a string of buzz words on the news of today’s Chrome OS netbook announcement. GOBI, CDMA, Verizon, Google, Net Neutrality, Netbooks, 100MBs. The list keeps going…
But, the biggest news has nothing to do with Chrome OS itself. Rather, it has to do with Google finally achieving their goal of free wireless data.
This, of course, means many different things to many different people. I’ll outline how it will change everything, again, after the break.
First a quick recap, in case you didn’t read our liveblog of the announcements. Chrome OS netbooks will ship with 100 MB of free data per-month, for at least the first two years of ownership.
Google’s choice of Verizon as a network partner for today’s data makes sense in the short run, but stands out in the long run. By using GOBI as the Chrome OS radio, Google was able to have all four carriers fight for who would offer free data. And, Verizon’s net neutrality pact gave them the win.
For those of you that didn’t read our coverage of Verizon’s net neutrality pact with Google, they essentially agreed to be net-neutral on wired data (DSL, FiOS, etc), while agreeing to be not net-neutral for wireless data. That pact allowed Google to get the data deal done with Verizon. Chrome OS netbooks will likely be prioritized below all other Verizon devices, especially when the customer is on the free data tier.
Many, including myself, thought this day would arrive with Sprint and Clearwire. Google’s massive cash infusion into WiMAX technology made free 4G seem the odds-on favorite, even if it was in an ad-supported infrastructure. That may still happen, but seeing as WiMAX deployment has slowed with the economy, Google obviously did not want to wait. This will further take steam out of Clearwire, and make it a more attractive acquisition target for Google.
Winner? Google. They get 3G today, and the potential to own not just their own network, but their own network technology in the 4G era. With what we’ve seen from WebM, WebP, and other massive acquisitions from Google, WiMAX could become a free checkbox feature in a plethora of devices.
But, let’s talk more about today. Now, netbook buyers will have 100 MB of data for free, and Chrome OS adoption will undoubtedly surge because of this. Microsoft has already cut Windows 7 Starter licensing razor-thin, and may now have to find some way to cut a similar deal, without hemorrhaging cash. That will take time, and in that time, Google will surge in user base.
What this will really change however, is web apps. Web site owners, developers, and app developers will be under intense pressure to cut their data utilization, and increase their usage of permanent caching stores and tactics. Essentially, customers/readers aren’t going to be pleased when a single web site eats up megabytes of data, Cookie Monster-style.
For at least the forseeable future, we’re going to see web sites, and web apps alike, take different tactics on how to deal with this problem. Many web site owners will simply be more mindful of data, opting for more-compressed images, links to high-bandwidth content, cautions, and warnings. It will also mean faster adoption of technologies like WebP that are specifically designed to cut the bandwidth that a web site uses.
More advanced sites however, will have more difficulty in deciding how to handle Chrome OS. One option is to offer up the mobile version of a site. However, something designed for a 320×240 pixel display isn’t going to look very elegant on a netbook.
The fallback position then becomes the “tablet view” for a site. If you’re already making an iPad-friendly UI, make a few tweaks and extend it to Chrome OS. This too, however, has pitfalls. A layout designed for an HTML5 multi-touch device is not going to run as well on a netbook, you’re going to have to make compromises or water down features to appease both devices.
Then, finally, is the notion of a Chrome OS Web App. This is where it appears that Google hopes most developers will go. Instead of shoehorning Chrome OS into one of the existing site layouts, Google hopes that developers will create a web app that has persistent, on-device storage for everything from layout to already-downloaded content. From there, AJAX pulls will simply flow in the new data, and a web site with megabytes of content can be refreshed in mere kilobytes. Even if you cleared your browser’s standard cache, or are running in privacy mode…
Of course, this means that developers will, once again, have to augment their app quiver. A serious high-value site must now have an App Store app (or iOS web app view), Android app (or WebKit app view), a tablet-friendly web view, and a Chrome OS app (or web view).
While many feared fragmentation of device app platforms, the real fear should be turned to fragmentation of where web developers must place their development dollars. Chrome OS will have to fit into a holistic development model in order to be accommodated in many budgets, and don’t even think that a standard for cross-platform web apps will result any time soon.
Google, Apple, and Microsoft (not to mention Nokia and HP) all want developers thinking in their company’s logic, and are going to be offering more and more integrated (and free) solutions like these to woo customers into convincing developers to follow their own respective development paths. Will we see an iPod touch 3G with free data from AT&T? If not, Verizon seems willing to deal.
I still don’t see how 100MB of data is useful. I use more data on my iPod Touch on open wifi networks. With 100MB, I can’t watch a video, or download more than a few attachments, nevermind a podcast. I might as well get a Kindle and try browsing the web on that, with free data. I think that’s who this competes with.
Daniel, that’s the task for web developers, to get their apps to do more with less.
Of course, you’re still going to be doing the bulk of your YouTube watching and Pandora streaming over Wi-Fi.
However, you can do a lot with 100 MB of data when it’s well-placed. It’s up to web developers to let apps download the bulk of their payload over Wi-Fi (such ash, from the Chrome OS app store), and then make the data usage on-the-goal as small as possible.
I suspect it will become a feature of apps to tout how little data they use, and promote that they can be used constantly throughout a month without denting the 100 MB quota.
Chris –
100mb of data in this day and age is an inadequate joke in the age of multimedia. This was just a non-news story really and Google and Verizon chose to try and use it to make everyone think they had achieved some major deal regarding net neutrality. This is tantamount to an announcement from AT&T saying they are offering free 56k dsl.
100mb for free is just a little carrot baiting people into buying a better data offering. I use probably 800mb a month on my phone alone and Id hardly consider myself a power user. The internet is evolving into something more data intensive by the minute people are more interested in watching HD movies on their netbooks than going back to the days of text based web browsing with a 56k modems.
Yes, we the mobile elite aren’t going to benefit much/at all from this offering.
But, Chris is thinking of the bottom half here. For people that can’t afford a superphone and a netbook. For people that can’t afford Internet at home. For people who leach Wi-Fi from libraries and public hotspots.
Those people are many times more than the mobile elite (small niche). The bottom half is going to gain massive new utility that before they couldn’t afford. They’re going to need custom Chrome OS Apps that are light on the data, because they have to make it last a full month.
People who can’t afford a superphone or a netbook or internet at home, but who can afford Verizon Wireless? Who are these people?
RonaldVegan, Verizon is free for the first 100 MB each month, hence the cost for service is $0. It has nothing to do with the high price of Verizon’s other data plans, low-income customers will ignore those high price plans. Many low-income customers will likely opt for a Chrome OS netbook as their primary machine, and the free 3G access will probably be a pivotal factor.
Imagine if you had to travel to a library or work just to surf the web. Now imagine you have an arsenal of low-bandwidth Chrome OS apps that you can use at home in addition to Wi-Fi access elsewhere. This is a big deal for customers that can’t afford smartphone data.
This will become even more significant as first-gen Chrome OS netbooks become second-hand devices and sell in the $99 range, instead of the $199 range.
Sorry Chris, I wrote that before clicking the link and reading all of the announcement from Tuesday.
Regardless of how well an application is written, even if it is only transmitting a few K of data, every packet of Data has overhead and the smaller the packets the more the overhead. So the smaller packets waste more of that 100mb on the necessary behind the scenes data that encapsulates the all important data. In the beginning they may be able to attract “new” to the Internet people and potentially others with the Google and Chrome brand names and even others with incredible devices or extremely cheap devices but ultimately they wont keep them as the multimedia experience will either be static or weak at best because there is ONLY so much you can fit in .36mb a day of data.
Now, let’s say this is aimed at the lower income market, then it will most certainly have to work without any kind of account with Verizon, unless they somehow activate them without requiring credit checks and the like. I wouldn’t want to supply the necessary personal information, like social security number, to Verizon for the free service. They would also need to make sure not to run a credit check which I recall used to be a standard step in the online process of setting up Verizon accounts with no way to opt out. (I used to work for Radio Shack)
The 100 MB free tier plans will not require a credit check. They will simply use a Google Account and track data based on the device MEID. Meaning, once you use the 100 MB per month, you can’t just switch to another Google Account to get another 100 MB.
After the 100 MB are used, you will be given two options; buy a Verizon standard data plan or buy a $9.99 day pass. (Until the next month begins, of course).
Again, no overages… you simply won’t be able to use the internet anymore over 3G until the next month starts. This will keep customers from getting angry at Verizon or Google.
Moderate use is going to see the cap reached rather quickly because multimedia eats data caps for dinner. And Flash.. We wont mention Flash.