Tech: Google OS is dreck

Subject: RE: Tech: Google OS is dreck
From: DaveRo
Date: 06 Jun 16 - 12:28 PM

Stanron wrote: With regard to 'full-blown Linux', I suppose that would actually be Unix

No - I meant a full general-purpose version of Linux, such as you and I use. As opposed to a restricted, locked-down, idiot-proof, and in the case of Chrome OS, online-only system.

In my experience Linux is mainly suitable for the technically competent and curious, and that without personal help most ordinary ex-Windows people can't make the change. Easier to pay Microsoft for a familiar and easily supported system, despite its security problems. Which is sensible.

Subject: RE: Tech: Google OS is dreck
From: Stanron
Date: 06 Jun 16 - 11:47 AM

With regard to 'full-blown Linux', I suppose that would actually be Unix and I'm not sure that I could cope with that. I have coped with a Linux only PC for the last few years and I am amazed that I used such an expensive, unsafe and error prone system as Windows for so many years.

Subject: RE: Tech: Google OS is dreck
From: DaveRo
Date: 06 Jun 16 - 11:01 AM

Yes, Chrome OS is Linux Based. So is Android. So, probably, is your router and perhaps your TV set. But that's not why it's incompatible with the music DVD - that's because Google decided to work with manufacturers like Asus to make very cheap but limited machines called Chromebooks. I run Linux and it can use most devices - DVD burners etc - and play music just fine.

But you're right that most ordinary folk couldn't cope with full-blown Linux. Which is why, I suppose, Google opted to severely restrict what Chrome OS can do so that people like your sister - who install "so much crap" - can't break it.

Subject: RE: Tech: Google OS is dreck
From: EBarnacle
Date: 06 Jun 16 - 10:53 AM

Just saw this article on this bit of "old tech" still in operation.

http://www.electronicproducts.com/Military/Research/Report_shows_US_Nuclear_weapons_systems_still_use_floppy_disks.aspx

Subject: RE: Tech: Google OS is dreck
From: EBarnacle
Date: 06 Jun 16 - 09:54 AM

This issue actually began when she receive a music DVD from a friend on the left coast. There was no way to play it on the Chromebook so I offered her the SONY drive. The rest you know.

Another friend advises that the Chromebook/Google OS is Linux based. That would also explain the incompatibility. At our regional rummage sale, when we receive a Linux machine, we wipe it and install Windows 7. Our customers don't buy unfamiliar OS's.

Subject: RE: Tech: Google OS is dreck
From: DaveRo
Date: 06 Jun 16 - 02:23 AM

Yes, there are obviously lots of reasons why you might want to burn a CD or DVD. I sometimes give music CDs to people. I too don't trust free cloud backup for some stuff.

punkfolkrocker wrote: It's much easier to hand out inexpensive USB sticks...

A CD costs me 10 pence! (And I wouldn't stick random USB memory sticks into Windows without virus checking them, unless I trusted the owner not to be someone who...

EBarnacle wrote: ...loads her computers with so much crap...

Sounds like a Chromebook is perfect for your sister. They're pretty immune to malware. Apart from being unable to burn a disk, how has she got on with it? When my brother's computer goes wrong and the folk in his club have tried and failed to fix it he asks me. I think he might benefit from having a more limited computer. I certainly would ;)

Subject: RE: Tech: Google OS is dreck
From: EBarnacle
Date: 06 Jun 16 - 12:44 AM

I didn't, Garg. My sister got it for herself from Amazon. I gave her the external power pack with the device and showed her how it should work.
She bought it because some clerk at the local big box store persuaded her that her Windows 7 laptop was dying. It isn't and wasn't but she loads her computers with so much crap that they slow down almost immediately. I had built the 7 machine for her and for any normal user it would have been fine. She panicked and bought this thing. It is now 11 months post purchase so forget any semblance of support.

PFR, if you wish to move one of the duplication burners along, perhaps we can work a deal. A contribution to Max, perhaps? Are they Windows 7 compatible? By the way, I give out disks because they are the cheapest medium to give out, usually a couple of hundred per trade show. PM me.

Subject: RE: Tech: Google OS is dreck
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 05 Jun 16 - 10:47 PM

Dear EB,

Yes, lovely "Plug and Pray."
Please consult the retailer you purchased the dazzling device from.

Yes, you can access the bios...
Yes, you can make it dual bootable...

Without adding an external power source for your "burner" you are likely to overload the limited power within the tiny laptop system. (You did purchase the extended warrenty?)

Sincerely,
Gargoyle





Please check your "below the line attitude" when visiting "the upper kingdom."

Subject: RE: Tech: Google OS is dreck
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 05 Jun 16 - 10:29 PM

..agreed, but they can also read USB sticks.. and most other current & superceded data cards via USB card readers.

10 years ago I was burning significant quantities of CDs and DVDs every day.
I don't think I've needed to burn more than 2 in the last 18 months...???

I have 2 CD duplication burners[used to mass produce band demo CDs]
that have been mothballed and gathering dust since several years ago...

The DVD burners in my laptops have never been used at all,
and I see more sense in eventually removing them and using the space for solid state hard drives.

Subject: RE: Tech: Google OS is dreck
From: EBarnacle
Date: 05 Jun 16 - 10:13 PM

I agree that technology moves on. However, according to recent data,
XP is still the third most popular OS. There will be a lot of machines out there with disk readers for quite a while,

Subject: RE: Tech: Google OS is dreck
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 05 Jun 16 - 08:18 PM

Google are welcome to copyright "Tues - 2.15 phoned Doctor - she says prescription was issued but lost in admin. Phone back tomorrow"

...and such like...

Yeah.., ok, seriously, I do share suspicions; which is why I habitually omit identifying detail from ongoing notes/diary
typed into Google Docs on the Asus Chromebit...

Neither do I trust Android and Windows systems. So I still refuse to do online banking...

But I think we need to accept that the days of CD and DVD burning are nearly over.
It was a very clunky transitional data technology.

It's much easier to hand out inexpensive USB sticks...
.. or email attachments...

Subject: RE: Tech: Google OS is dreck
From: EBarnacle
Date: 05 Jun 16 - 07:37 PM

Guest, in good company, if you wish to read information that someone sends you or wish to save information yourself and don't trust the cloud that belongs to companies like Google, you need to store it somewhere.
Yesterday I passed a disk to someone I wish to do business with. If I entrust proprietary information to Google, they claim copyright on it.
I value my intellectual property too much to give it away to any version of the evil empire. I remember the days of the Patriot Act which allowed Big Brother to access anything they wanted without a by your leave.

Subject: RE: Tech: Google OS is dreck
From: GUEST,In good company
Date: 05 Jun 16 - 12:04 PM

There seems to be no means of installing external hardware such as a CD/DVD reader/burner.

And why on earth would anyone want to install such a thing? Surely in this digital age no one really wants to use up the precious resources required for CDs or DVDs. What is wrong with just using electronic storage and transfer? Come out of the 1990s and save the planet for heavens sake!

Cheers

Dave

Subject: RE: Tech: Google OS is dreck
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 05 Jun 16 - 11:35 AM

As I understand the marketing intention,
Chrome operating system & dedicated hardware was targeted as an affordable quick and simple self contained product
for providing immediate internet access for completely inexperienced and non expert users.

Ideal for folks like my elderly relatives who never dared go anywhere near a computer in their life..

Earlier this year I took a risk on buying an Asus Chromebit mini stick computer
very cheap in a sale, just to have a play with it...

It is now a permanent fixture in the HDMI port of my monitor.
It has a 4 port USB plugged in for inputting data from USB sticks, and a Logitech K400 wireless keyboard / touch pad.

I use it exclusively for it's cloud word processing software and storage,
which can be synced to all our mobile devices if needs be.

It's always on and ready for typing notes of phone calls
relating to all my mother's health and finance, now that I have to take responsibility for all her affairs.

Meanwhile my 'real' PCs carry on with what they do unimpaired by resource hogging installed bloatware office suite programs..

I've found it far more useful than expected...

But the one product that was a pain in the arse to get to work properly, and seemed almost useless when it did, was the Chromecast....

Chromecast is rubbish compared to exactly the same priced android TV boxes...

Subject: RE: Tech: Google OS is dreck
From: DaveRo
Date: 05 Jun 16 - 09:57 AM

It is odd though. According to the list I referred to it supports USB Hard Drives - presumably for reading and writing - but optical drives only for reading.

Subject: RE: Tech: Google OS is dreck
From: GUEST,Ed
Date: 05 Jun 16 - 09:43 AM

There seems to be no means of installing external hardware such as a CD/DVD reader/burner

It was never intended to have that functionality...

My issue is that a modern standard device is not recognized by a computer from a major provider

Did you or your sister never read the specs? Or research the capabilities of the device?

I think Lester has a fair point in saying it sounds like a lack of planning

Subject: RE: Tech: Google OS is dreck
From: DaveRo
Date: 05 Jun 16 - 09:36 AM

You're correct that Chrome OS doesn't support CD/DVD writers.
File types and external devices that work on Chromebooks

Subject: RE: Tech: Google OS is dreck
From: EBarnacle
Date: 05 Jun 16 - 08:18 AM

Lester, read the first post.
Plug and Play is pretty much an industry standard. Many devices work on both Mac and Windows. That's what USB ports are for. My issue is that a modern standard device is not recognized by a computer from a major provider.

Subject: RE: Tech: Google OS is dreck
From: Lester
Date: 05 Jun 16 - 05:25 AM

So you bought a ChromeBook which runs Google OS and expect it to Windows things and get upset when it doesn't. Sounds like a lack of planning to me.

Subject: RE: Tech: Google OS is dreck
From: DaveRo
Date: 05 Jun 16 - 04:56 AM

I don't think it's fair to accuse Google of 'not invented here' syndrome. Apple, yes: they actively obstruct the use if non-apple programs and hardware: they make their money from selling hardware. But Google makes its money from advertising and it doesn't care how you receive it.

As for Chrome OS it does what it does pretty well, from what I've read. It's designed to get the Chrome browser - and adverts - in front of as many eyeballs as possible as cheaply as possible. It's not a general-purpose operating system like Windows. It is a workstation.

It is fair to accuse Amazon of 'not invented here' syndrome. Kindles exist to sell Amazon books, so they don't support some 'standard' ebook formats. But they're fairly cheap, there are lots of free books for them on Project_Gutenberg and it's possible to convert formats using Calibre.

As for FUD, that's more of a marketing strategy. It worked for IBM back then. Maybe it'll work for Cameron against Brexit. (Followups on that to BS!)

Subject: RE: Tech: Google OS is dreck
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Jun 16 - 04:14 AM

On the other hand, the Android operating system found on phones and tablets, seems to be very good. It, too, comes from Google.

Subject: RE: Tech: Google OS is dreck
From: Mr Red
Date: 05 Jun 16 - 04:04 AM

This "not invented here" attitude

Ah - the old NIH as we used to say in the early days of Integrated Circuits (chips).

Another one: <TECHSPEAK> FUD (Fear Uncertainty & Doubt) </TECHSPEAK> used in similar circumstances but denoting excessive caution in design.

Subject: RE: Tech: Google OS is dreck
From: EBarnacle
Date: 04 Jun 16 - 08:27 AM

Yup, it's a Chromebook. My issue is that it is definitely tarnished because it does not recognize a plug and play device or have an intuitively obvious means of getting at a menu which will access a means of installation. This "not invented here" attitude is why I gave away a Kindle Paperwhite I had won as a doorprize. It would not access anything outside Amazon.
There is no doubt about the battery life but its functionality seems limited.

Subject: RE: Tech: Google OS is dreck
From: Mr Red
Date: 04 Jun 16 - 03:43 AM

Chrome has a tarnished reputation {:-)

Subject: RE: Tech: Google OS is dreck
From: DaveRo
Date: 04 Jun 16 - 03:19 AM

It's called 'Chrome OS'. Googling will reveal what USB drives work - though I expect that it also depends on the machine's USB specs - and how to find system info. Only being able to run Google apps is the whole point of it - and why it's cheap.

Subject: RE: Tech: Google OS is dreck
From: Joe Offer
Date: 04 Jun 16 - 01:13 AM

Is this a Chromebook, EBarnacle?

I've had a Chromebook for four years now. It's the one I usually use for traveling. It has great battery life and does most of what I need to do, but it does seem to be getting sluggish. I don't know if there's anything I can do to prolong its life. But it has served me well for four years and a lot of travel.

-Joe-

Subject: Tech: Google OS is dreck
From: EBarnacle
Date: 03 Jun 16 - 11:56 PM

My sister brought in a computer she bought [ASUS] which has a Google OS.
There seems to be no means of installing external hardware such as a CD/DVD reader/burner.
I was not able to access internal information, such as the size of the HDD, amount of RAM, chip speed, etc. There was no button on the screen to activate anything other than Google apps.
If this is cloud computing, leave me out. The machine seems no better than a work station.