December 12, 2010 - Read the continuation to this article. Why Google Chrome OS Will Fail: The Saga Continues

Google Chrome OS hasn't really been in the news lately, and it really only got hype last July when it was announced. But something has been in the news lately, and that is tablet devices, specifically the Apple iPad. Google Chrome OS will be a lightweight operating system aimed directly at netbooks. But when we think about netbooks, there are still a lot of people that ask the question "Why should I get one?" or "Why do I need one?" Some people might whip out the old "They are more portable." answer, but tablets are now emerging to replace netbooks. So aren't netbooks descending? Plus, if they are descending, why would Google work up an ascending OS for a descending category of notebooks?

In my humble opinion, I think that netbooks had their time already and they aren't growing very much for multiple reasons. The Apple iPad can easily be a netbook killer. It may not be one yet, but it will be as the gadget grows. And even if it never grows to be a netbook killer (which I highly doubt), there will be other manufacturers that will take that task into their own hands. The second reason is there's only so much you can put in a netbook and there's only so many people that are willing to trade off performance for portability. I'm not one of them. I've never seen any reason for netbooks and I don't think I ever will. In a 13" notebook that weighs maybe two pounds more, there's so much more power. I'm not saying that that kind of power can't be done in a netbook, it's just the fact that it currently isn't being done.

Now some might say to this "Well since Google Chrome OS is a lightweight operating system, the user won't need a lot of power." That's absolutely true. But if the user doesn't need a lot of power, why not just buy a tablet computer? A tablet computer has -- or at least it should have -- a lightweight operating system just like Chrome OS except it doesn't have a physical keyboard built in or the flip-open form factor. However, it does have amazing new multi-touch technology and a brilliant screen all in a much slimmer design than netbooks.

So we've established that in my opinion, netbooks are beginning their descent and tablets are ascending. That means that Chrome OS would probably need to fully support touch screen input in order to gain success. Not only that, but the hype for Chrome OS is key. Google has a really bad habit of announcing products way too early. Why the hell did they announce Chrome OS last year if it was going to be available later this year? They did the same thing with Google Wave. Last year at Google I/O they believed Wave would be the future and had a private beta for an entire year, and for the first few months people were begging desperately for invites. What happened when this year they finally made it public? It completely failed and few embraced the concept. I think the same thing will happen with Chrome OS. It will finally come out later this year and some people will really like it, but for the most part it will simply be old hype.