At 01:39 PM 03/01/2006, Chris Reeves wrote:
<http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-predict1jan01,0,3503327.story>http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-predict1jan01,0,3503327.story
Google intent on distributing it's own, super-low cost internet browsing
PC running on it's OS.
If they really decide to release, say, a $300 email and web browsing system
(WebTV, anyone?) and sell it through Wal-mart, the cost of support will
kill them, or the lack of support will kill the idea. Most people simply
can't use their computers - so unless they can turn a computer into a
simpler VCR (most people can't use their VCRs either) that cannot be
attacked by spam, pop-ups or mal-ware, then they'll have to support the
thing. Wal-mart can't support the product, so it'll all be on Google's
back. And given the level of support available from Bangalore, it won't be
pretty.
And people are forgetting that MS already has a cheap PC that's already in
a lot of homes. The X-Box just needs a keyboard and a web browser (there
actually is a browser on some of the hacked dashboards) to compete quite
handily with anything Google can bring out.
I submit that if Google goes up against MS in the PC/OS arena, especially
with Wal-mart as it's only ally, that MS will chew Google up and spit it out.
T
