skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Note that Verizon doesn't operate in Europe, and CDMA is just about unheard of over here.

According to this CNET report ( http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-20061896-266.html ) chromebooks will be sold in several EU countries, so I assume there'll be a UMTS/HSPA model sold with contracts from various carriers.

(It's fairly clear that Google are targeting the same "curated computing" approach as Apple, but via a radically different delivery vehicle -- a netbook-like notebook PC rather than a tablet with a "clean sheet" multitouch user interface. Be interesting to see how the competition shapes up over the next year.)
sounds pretty similar to the complaints about the ipad.
They certainly didn't help you with a picture of the hardware.

[edit] Being serious. They're selling a computer without showing a picture of it. I was surprised.
Works pretty well in Safari 5, but it's a little laggy even on my rocket ship (2x3GHz QC Xeon Mac Pro, 9 GB RAM).
Perhaps someone with a CR-48 can enlighten me... how does one get their photos from their camera to the cloud on one of these?
" The price point on this needs to be a LOT cheaper. Like $100 or free for a netbook..."

But that's exactly what they've done with the monthly hardware/software subscription for businesses and universities. The hardware is free. You just pay $20-$30 permonth.
I kinda thought the same way before I received a pilot CR48. This machine is perfect for couch surfing and emailing. It's super light, doesn't get hot, instant on, and I rarely plug in the charger. It fails miserably when I want to do any development though.
90% of time spent at conferences is wasted, but you never know which 90%.
I've definitely seen and believe in the benefits of an extended family raising a child. I think you're on to something here.
If anyone has any questions I'm happy to respond in here as well.
Most people don't want a choice of browser or to worry about syncing different accounts or running WoW on every single computer they buy. Most people want to browse the web without virusus or hassles or intrusive software updates.

It's very very clear that this is not meant for full content creation and gaming and a giant desktop experience. This is meant for the web on the go. If you don't want it, that's fine. But are you seriously saying you can't imagine a single living human being wanting this device? Ken, you're being silly here. Clearly, this is something that fits the needs of a huge number of people.
> All I'm saying is that in a free society, there are better ways to improve the world than breaking laws, one of them being persuasion.

At times when there is lots of pressure for generalised control and surveillance because it's simply made possible, it's in the contrary of tremendous importance for some courageous people to go against mainstream, to prevent what remains of our decadent democracies to fall into fascism. Free society is not a state of the matter, it's a process.
Ask HN: app is going viral, need help.
Hi All,
I am android developer, due to diversified android market most of the time it's impossible to reproduce user problems in development environment?. On top most of issues are simply due to "no network access”, “missing sd card", "low memory" or use of unsupported devices.
To solve problems i was facing, I built a very simple app called "DeviceDoctor" and found it very useful. Then I recently released it in android market. This utility is going viral. I am trying to get more marketing and reach out more people. Let me know how can i reach to large audience? I tried some very popular blogs but they are not taking me seriously.

Thanks
If I was tasked with selling Chromebooks door-to-door, my primary talking point would be "it just works" and I would point out the high cost of paying someone (GeekSquad, etc.) to perform software services on Windows computers. For people who are stumped by what we on HN consider to be minor annoyances, paying $75+/issue adds up pretty quickly. You are right that, for regular folks, the primary competitor is likely an iPad.

"hook it up to my TV in the dorm"

The Cr-48 has a VGA output, IIRC. Perhaps future Chromebooks will have HDMI output?

"sync my iPod/iPad/iPhone"

This is an interesting problem for Google. Apple clearly has no incentive to support the platform. The value proposition for a home user is not strong unless a Chromebook can replace a Windows laptop. Besides photo uploading, what other device integration issues ruin the game? My wife would react negatively if she could not use a scanner. Google's cloud printing scheme is an obvious end-run around direct support of printers. Perhaps they will roll-out a similar scanning scheme?
Are you committing crimes?

If so, you can hardly complain about the FBI breaking down your door.

If not, then gaining additional evidence doesn't make it more likely that they're going to break down your door.
Does anyone else think it would have been brilliant for the Android ecosystem if they could have beat Apple's 30% cut with the Android Market?
At least it is possible to restrict access to some functionality and apps through "Restrictions," i.e. parental controls.
> Chromebooks are built and optimized for the web, where you already spend most of your computing time. So you get a faster, simpler and more secure experience without all the headaches of ordinary computers.

Their landing text. Assuming we didn't all see the forbes.com piece about this announcement yesterday, that text doesn't tell me a single thing. (Other than Google has a well-paid marketing department.)
> can't plug their iPhone/iPod

Citation? The devices have USB ports...
Something that's not confidence inspiring from the site:
"Get everything you need directly from Google, including support - online, email and phone."

Contrast with the current CEO's views on support
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/03/mf_larrypage/3/

"...Denise Griffin, the person in charge of Google’s small customer-support team, asked Page for a larger staff. Instead, he told her that the whole idea of customer support was ridiculous. ..."

If Google is truly going to support these devices, they're going to need a paradigm shift from Page's pre-existing "support doesn't scale" attitude... and bring their A-game.
This is why I hate the concept of App stores.

It's just a link that uses open technologies that works well on any modern browser, yet you need to open Chrome and "install" it. Why can't I just type in a URL into any browser I want!? (Yes, I know that this specific app happens to have a link. However, it's not clickable, it's not obvious and most apps won't.)

If I made a site that you could only use if you opened it in IE and bookmarked it? Everyone would be crying foul. Yet somehow, browser specific app stores are considered moving the web forward.

Let's take it a step further. Let's say they charged for this app, which many apps will. If I pay for it in the (currently in development) Mozilla app store, that means I can't use it in Chrome. Is this really what we want for the web?

Why can't browsers just beef up their bookmarking systems? Right now, we're hiding regular links behind "installations."

I hate app stores, and I hate what they have the potential to do to the web. I hate that someday soon, someone will say to me "You should use ____! But it's (Firefox|Chrome|IE) only." I thought we left that mentality with IE6.

(Disclosure: I work for Mozilla, but have nothing to do with our web apps store. Naturally, my opinions are my own.)
Italicize the quote or set it in different font. If that is not possible (because of strict style guidelines, maybe), your best remaining option is to lampshade its appearance.
link to application : https://market.android.com/details?id=com.devicetest
Hmmm, it works fine on my CR-48. I'm on the dev channel, maybe that makes a difference?
No, it's an Amazon S3 competitor.
Google doesn't host your content on the Chrome app store.
Interestingly it works great for me in Safari but not Chrome (11.0.696.65)...
Very cool! They are still using Flash for audio, however, which is slightly less cool.
Am I missing something here?

It's ~$400 for a laptop, then $28/mo to use it?

What are you getting from this that I'm not already getting for free from google?

Or is it $28/mo and the hardware is free...?
I just wish either one would support SSL for CNAMEd buckets.
You don't have to install it to use it:
http://chrome.angrybirds.com/
Amazing example of customer service (read the email thread) (Dec '10)
> can you name one good building material that you can't actually use to build a house?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKH0qoaXR88 Discusses how building codes hinder new and "natural" building methods. In particular, the speaker mentions that older codes have failed to keep up with better techniques for strawbale building.

The deeper issue is not whether new materials can be used to meet code requirements, but whether new ideas of what constitutes a safe dwelling are allowed. Building codes are based on assumptions about what a dwelling should be like. For example, the floor should be relatively stiff. If a floor is too bouncy, it won't meet code even if it's strong enough to support the weight. Walls can't be too flimsy. The idea of a house that just safely collapses in a windstorm or floats away in a flood is, I suspect, outside of most building codes' conception of a safe building. The code focuses on the idea of a strong, permanent structure that will resist nature's forces. If houses were plants, the code would only recognize big trees. However, there are also grasses, which much cheaper to produce and also resistant to nature's forces in their own way (they bend). Yet building codes don't recognize structures that are inspired by grasses, only big immovable trees.

I don't know if grass-like houses are a good idea or not, but I'm sure that if we expand our thinking we can come up with better shelters. The problem is that it's hard to innovate and government regulation only tends to make it harder.
It's like the litl plus 3G but minus the clever industrial design (and two years later)

http://litl.com
This is probably an important distinction when you're comparing it to the App Store. However, Wikipedia says that Google's 30% cut on the Android Market goes to the carriers. Do the carriers provide the infrastructure for the Market or does Google just not mind paying for the expense?
superb :)

thanks.
This could be a big hit in the education sector. The management of everything would be very simple since the hardware is a commodity, there no worries about viruses/spyware and everything is automatically saved in the cloud.
Doesn't work for me. I get the music, but the game never appears.
Let me be clear. I'd love this device for free. Or like I said, even $100 I could see it being a fair price. But when you price at the same price of a netbook that performs really well (the new ASUS Eee Pcs are pretty darn impressive beasts for a $289 machine), with all of its limitations, it just doesn't make sense.

This needs to be more like a Kindle. A device you get even if you already have a laptop and an iPad. The price needs to be way lower.
Well, it's normally $50/year/user, right? So apps is only ~$4/month, meaning the price isn't that different either way.
So is there an initial fee apart from the $20/28 per month?
Want to see the JSON of an Angry Birds level? "view-source"
Looks like we agree on a lot :)

I take up photography in stints of a few weeks to a few months. I get inspired to do some photography, take some photos, then leave it for other pursuits. The last time I took it up, my gut reaction was that I needed to replace my old Canon A1 with a modern DSLR. Prices had come down significantly, and I couldn't possibly do good work with my compact, right?

Well, rather than rushing out and buying a DSLR, I decided to go shoot with my compact SD870IS. I'm so glad I did. It gave me a chance to re-focus on the basics without worrying about what settings I was using. I left the camera in full auto and focused instead on LOOKING at what I was about to shoot. I was really pleased with the result, and I'm 100% convinced that it improved my photography as a result.

Some examples of the photos I shot with the SD870IS:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradleyland/3224710694/in/photo...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradleyland/3224711584/in/photo...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradleyland/3223853289/in/photo...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradleyland/3224779424/in/photo...

I could not have taken the shot of the grasshopper with a DSLR because A) I wouldn't have been able to grab the camera, mount a macro lens, and get ready to shoot in time, and B) the DSLR wouldn't have fit in the space I had to put the camera to get that shot.

Then again, I couldn't have taken these shots with the compact because I couldn't quickly change settings for good DOF (first photo) and I'd have missed the moment because of speed (arguably for both).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradleyland/3296469446/in/photo...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradleyland/3241790710/in/photo...
This doesn't make sense from a bunch of different perspectives.

Yes, with the Chrome computers, you might not get viruses. But that would be the same as if you got any Linux Netbook that they sell, and would still have many more features than the Chromebook.

You also bring out a lot of anti-features with the Chromebook as well. When you give this to your parents, and they ask where their little blue "E" is, or where their Spider Solitaire is, what will you say? What about those students and businesses that require to have certain software on their system, that the Chromebook doesn't support? Suddenly you exchange technical problems like getting rid of viruses with explaining how to do things in a new environment, with new rules.

And at the end of the day, is it worth it? For me, I'd rather take that $450 dollars (or $350) and buy a fully functional PC that can run all my favorite software and also get me access to the web.

That is not to say, however, that I would not buy one in the future. If they brought the cost down ($150 would be almost an instant buy for me), and/or had a fully matured "app" store if you will, I would probably change my mind. But I look at it, and the only key features I see are the great battery life, and free 100MB 3G access a month, and a whole lot of negatives and unanswered questions (Are they going to have bad customer service like they did with the Nexus? Are they going to give up on this like the Wave, or keep pushing it?)
I consider myself extremely unlucky with laptops but even mine last 2+ years. The Google notebook for two years would cost $480 - $720! This notebook is heavily reliant on Google Services (unless you hack it) so I was expecting them to go much cheaper and make up the $$ on service usage and ads.
Don't miss the first email under the heading "The full story" here. I am in awe of Peldi's reply and handling of such an email.
They went into a bit of detail during the keynote. It's worth checking out a video if you can find one. It's towards the end, in the last 20 minutes.

Anyway, the gist is, a web application (say, Picasa, or Facebook) can register as a file handler for certain kinds of file types (say images) and then handle the upload from the client. A little contextual menu comes up when you plug in a sd card or whatever that asks you which (if any) file handler you'd like to deal with the files.
Actually most of those examples are the niche; browsing Facebook and watching YouTube is what "average Joe" does.

Chrome is clearly meant to be a "do one thing really well" product, not a catch all computing device.
Ah thanks for that insight - I was wondering why it asked for Flash on an iPad.
In the keynote, the demo showed them putting an SD card in the machine and using a file manager to manually select and upload the files to Picasa.
Google Web Store In-app Payments launched [sandbox]
Especially since flash is mandatory and they won't let you launch the game without it.
Let's say that I have a list of objects of mixed type, and I only care that they implement a given method. With duck typing, the types of the objects need not be coupled via a common base class (or even interface). For example:

# Less coupled
class A:
def foo(self):
print "A"
class B:
def foo(self):
print "B"

for x in (A(), B()):
x.foo()

vs:

# More coupled
class Base:
def foo(self):
pass
class A(Base):
def foo(self):
print "A"
class B(Base):
def foo(self):
print "B"

for x in (A(), B()):
x.foo()
How well would the interactive music video they demoed work on these?
Why would the apps need to be duplicated?

Couldn't they just have their data access mapped toward space under each current_user account?

Sure, you'd have to flush any cached apps, leading to a little more load time here and there, but even then maybe not until/unless the new user tried to switch to a task still-running under another account.

All data access going through the fairly narrow SDKs, and a lack of willy-nilly multi-tasking would seem to make this a fairly straightforward project.
Why Donald Knuth Checks E-mail Only Once Every Three Months
This is true, and is basically what I pay my nanny. I clearly could not afford to do this if I worked in a less lucrative industry. In that case, I would most likely stay home.
It gets better, not worse. At steady state you just account for the depreciation cost, though, right? So that's $1.94/TB/MO/Drive, or $0.0019/GB/MO/Drive or $0.01/GB/MO for 3-way redundancy.
They had announced funding when I was hired, but the product had not been developed or launched yet.
Big difference with iPad is that it has a great user experience. It's obvious on first use of the iPad. The iPad is this device that you show anyone and drool forms from the lips. It's sexy as hell. Then you list the limitations and lots of people still say, "I don't care" while others will care.

With the ChromeBooks there's no drooling. The limitations hit you like sack of steel. And then you have to explain the upside, which frankly isn't that interesting.

Note the difference. With the iPad you have to convince people its a bad idea to buy one. With the ChromeBook you have to convince people its a good idea to buy one.
I too was confused by the name, I thought it was a tablet until they showed the laptop in the video.

I had actually totally forgotten about ChromeOS until the announcement. That being said, I really like it. For people (and there seems to being a growing number of my friends and acquaintances) who use primarily only web apps this is an awesome idea. I am actually considering buying one for my girlfriend when they come out.

Has any pricing information been released?
While I agree with other commentators that the prose is a bit over the top, its an interesting move on the part of financial interests. (there was a great report in the Murky News that special interests are writing the laws [1])

Clearly financial transactions have provided a means for the state to both detect and to a lesser degree mitigate criminal activity. The phrase 'follow the money' works because such activities are at their heart economic in nature (trying to enrich the criminals) and understanding the path to that enrichment often allows law enforcement to disassemble the criminal enterprise behind it.

That being said, I would not be the least bit surprised (although I did not read through any floor debate if there was any) if the people who voted for this law did so believing that they were addressing a great threat to society, which is the proliferation of payment processors which are not accountable to the state for tracking or even reporting their transactions in any form.

That does cut into 'innovation' as thinkcomp points out but it doesn't preclude it. It changes the conversation from 'build it and see what works' to something more along the lines of a slow plod from idea to implementation while bringing legislators and law enforement along. The bad news is that criminals are motivated to stay ahead of 'the system's abilty to track their money, consumers need a value proposition and a trial period before they switch so adoption rates are probably (not data driven, just intuition here) lower.

Perhaps the next innovation is a payment processing company that provides the regulatory shield for innovative sub companies.

[1] http://www.mercurynews.com/politics-government/ci_15517816
> And those people don't know what Google Docs are either. And when they get an Excel document where charts don't render correctly, or comments are screwed up, or pivot tables don't work against their datasource, they'll be POed.

What's wrong with the Office Web Apps?

http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/web-apps/

> Or when all their friends are playing WoW and they realize that this device doesn't play it.

Nobody expects epic graphics to run on this. Nobody expects that to run on your netbook either (if it does, cool! but that's NOT why you bought a "net"book).

> Or when they want to Skype with their grandkids they realize, they can't do that.

It has a web cam. Do they have gmail accounts? This is likely intended to be purchased by gmail-using people. Just have them sign in to Gmail. It's not like the Chromebooks don't have cameras or anything.

> Or when they take the photo editing class and realize that the laptop doesn't run the software so they trot halfway across campus to use the lab that has the software installed.

Photo editing isn't an expected activity for these devices. And, as time goes by, more and more really awesome photo editing web apps will arrive. You won't need to take a class to learn how to edit photos.

> The subset of people I could recommend this to is crazy small -- maybe zero given the price point.

Please listen to everyone else here; you and your friends are not the target market for this device. We get that you don't like it and your friends won't either. We don't care. I know ~ 20 people who would absolutely love one of these. Our stories are nothing more than useless anecodes. Don't suggest this device is a failure because you alone can't find someone who wants to just use the web.

> Speaking of which, how well does that work with Chrome (seriously asking)?

Very well. Plug it in, dealy pops up.
I was able to launch it just fine in Chrome with Flashblock enabled, but of course the game is silent unless you unblock Flash.
To me it sounds incredibly petulant and defensive, especially considering that it basically contradicts the "always connected" header which it's footnoting.

~Always connected!
~PS OBVIOUSLY this computer will not ACTUALLY be always connected in the REAL WORLD, what were you expecting

Really weird of them.
Google deploys Tasks API
This is exactly what I am doing now. I'm a system administrator with a firm grounding in scripting languages like perl and ruby with some experience in java. After dabbling with C I felt like it would be the best option for understanding memory management and gaining a solid foundation in programming. I started with the recommendation here http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/62502/small-c... of writing your favourite data structures.
I think my actual point was actually that Apple has been great for developers not hostile as you claimed. I think that's true by inspection. I think this developer had a terrible business model that was exposed by entirely predictable changes to market conditions and went out of business and is lashing out.