This recent development is part of a much larger, industry-wide trend: the traditional lines between mobile, laptop, and desktop operating systems are getting blurry – and perhaps may disappear altogether for many consumers in the coming decade. Consider:
* Apple is making OS X more and more like iOS. Will they eventually be merged into a single OS? Will they eventually run side-by-side (e.g., insert your iPhone into a dock, get your full desktop)?
* The newest desktop version of Windows, which is tablet- and touch-ready, looks and feels just like Windows Phone – will they eventually be merged into a single OS? Will they eventually run side-by-side?
* Android, which got its start in phones, is showing up in more and more unexpected places, including many large-screen form factors – Motorola’s Webtop 3.0 is just the latest example.
* Google and Mozilla are trying to make the browser a universal application platform for all kinds of devices – desktop, laptop, and mobile (effectively, they want to abstract away the underlying OS). FWIW, some new web applications already run on all platforms without modification (e.g., Trello – see http://blog.fogcreek.com/building-trello-com-for-multiple-de... )
* With GNU/Linux infrastructure available everywhere, other smaller players are making similar efforts. For example, Ubuntu can now run side-by-side with Android, and is gradually becoming a viable desktop, laptop, tablet, TV, and mobile OS with single universal interface: Unity.
* More and more end-user applications are becoming, effectively, front-ends to services that truly reside in the cloud; and consumers want access to these services from all their devices, mobile or not, ideally with a consistent, unified user experience.
This profound shift will likely shake up the industry, because it's not yet clear who the ultimate winners and losers might be. Things are bound to get very interesting...
I can't wait to see what Canonical will do with Android and Ubuntu once the Android kernel is fully merged into the Linux kernel again.
That being said, I still think Ubuntu is not ready for most consumers right now. It still feels too much like Linux. I still find myself needing to use commands to do something. That's just completely unacceptable if it wants to target the large consumer market. Once everything you need to do in Ubuntu can be done with point and click, then it will be worth a second look from regular consumers.
As for Google, I believe this is the direction they need to take right now. Get a ton of tablet apps on Android, and try to optimize it a bit more for laptops, without compromising on the touch/tablet experience.
They should've done this from the beginning, with the Motorola Atrix (first phone to feature Webtop) booting into Honeycomb (which Motorola was also first to release around the same time).
It would've still been 2 different OS's though, Gingerbread on phone and Honeycomb in the "Webtop mode", and ICS should finally unify this, allowing you to use the same OS in both phone phone and Webtop mode.
This is clearly the direction Google needs to take, especially now that they have Chrome for Android. Can't they just port whatever extra features ChromeOS has to Chrome for Android and be done with it? That would make a lot more sense than dual booting Android and ChromeOS, which was one of the rumors earlier. It would seem awfully redundant to me.
I know Google dreams about competing with Microsoft in the laptop space, but to do that they need a complete 180 degree turn-around on their very annoying passiveness about tablet apps. They need a ton more tablet apps if they want this to succeed, and they need them before fall 2012 when Windows 8 is launching. Waiting around for them to arrive is not a smart strategy for them. They need to go after the developers and make them do it.
I used a friend's Asus Transformer Prime a couple weeks ago (Android tablet with keyboard) and it seemed very well implemented. The Transformer Prime is a great netbook and dang close to being a laptop replacement.
It made me wonder what the point of ChromeOS is. If the Transformer Prime has Chrome and does a lot else too, ChromeOS seems redundant.
Chrome was, I suspect, the internal reason why Google not only lagged on using Android on tablet form factors, but actually dissuaded such use. They lost a lot of time during that.
I wish more manufacturers would follow Asus's lead with the Transformer, Samsung especially. They don't even have to promote it together, just offer the option as an accessory. What's there to lose from that? Actually, Samsung does offer some keyboards for their 10.1 tablets, but they feel completely disjointed, like it's just a regular keyboard, not an integrated one. I want to be able to turn it into a laptop and use it as a laptop, not just as a dock for the tablet that I could only use at home.
The top down Apple Way and the exploratory Android Way (they have other competing qualities besides). I'm pretty happy to see this going on and happy that both are having success. I'd also be happy to see MS join in with another Way.
Anyway, rather than follow a lead I would like to see other manufacturers explore different paths. If Asus do well enough, other manufacturers will follow anyway. For now Id like to see manufacturers work on making Android laptops/netbooks that can replace Windows/Mac for some people or some cases. It seems to me that the making it "a table too" would be more natural than making it "a netbook too."
Sounds pretty cool, I think. After all, the only reason I have a PC is for gaming, for all the rest (including work) all I use is a SAP log-on pad and office. AFAIK all that can be run either on a tablet or in the cloud. So yes, smartphone, tablet and desktop OSs can merge (or how ever you gonna call that).
Whats gonna happen to Linux / Unix in that scenario is another question.
Regarding the Razr / Webtop 3.0, hell that looks cool!
Personally, I think it'd be cool if they had the phone plug in not at the back but in place of the touchpad....that way the phone can act as a mouse and also extend the primary display
* Apple is making OS X more and more like iOS. Will they eventually be merged into a single OS? Will they eventually run side-by-side (e.g., insert your iPhone into a dock, get your full desktop)?
* The newest desktop version of Windows, which is tablet- and touch-ready, looks and feels just like Windows Phone – will they eventually be merged into a single OS? Will they eventually run side-by-side?
* Android, which got its start in phones, is showing up in more and more unexpected places, including many large-screen form factors – Motorola’s Webtop 3.0 is just the latest example.
* Google and Mozilla are trying to make the browser a universal application platform for all kinds of devices – desktop, laptop, and mobile (effectively, they want to abstract away the underlying OS). FWIW, some new web applications already run on all platforms without modification (e.g., Trello – see http://blog.fogcreek.com/building-trello-com-for-multiple-de... )
* With GNU/Linux infrastructure available everywhere, other smaller players are making similar efforts. For example, Ubuntu can now run side-by-side with Android, and is gradually becoming a viable desktop, laptop, tablet, TV, and mobile OS with single universal interface: Unity.
* More and more end-user applications are becoming, effectively, front-ends to services that truly reside in the cloud; and consumers want access to these services from all their devices, mobile or not, ideally with a consistent, unified user experience.
This profound shift will likely shake up the industry, because it's not yet clear who the ultimate winners and losers might be. Things are bound to get very interesting...