DOH! Google’s internet of things vision is powered by… Mac OS Few companies have as all encompassing a vision as our friends at Google. From handsets and cloud apps, to airships via, ad sales and Chromebooks, this is the company that reckons anything you can do, it can do better. Or at least do with an ad on it. No, there’s nothing fruity about our vision of the future Is that a …
A few years ago when Windows got slammed by a virus Google made the switch to the Mac platform. I forget what virus it was, but in order to use Linux or Windows you have to make a good claim on why you must use those. Mac is about the only choice at Google to my understanding unless you make your case!
They have their own OS, and they don't use it by default internally?
Which OS would that be exactly? Android, Chrome OS or one of their server versions?
I applaud the undogmatic use of the Mac: the hardware is good to develop on and works well with external AV. One of Google's strengths is its promiscuity - making its services available to all and sundry. In this Android is only a means to an end.
There isn't a snow-ball's chance in Hell I will EVER have my home, appliances...and especially my car...connected to any Internet organization. Not Apple...not Google...not Microsoft...not anyone.
The only items that are...and will still be...connected to the Internet are my computer and Smartphone. Everything else is off limits to all of these creeps.
Everything else is off limits to all of these creeps.
That's you and me both. But it's not like they don't keep trying - one of the issues is that you may be able to control your own gear, but any mobile device wandering in from outside has the potential to act as a gateway you do not control. And personally, I could really do with code that could nuke every attempt to hook me up to some sharing or "cloud" setup, I'm getting really, really fed up with that.
Chromebooks can't be used for development, this was in fact a question that was asked at the Android Fireside Chat session yesterday - someone asked when you would be able to write Android applications using the Chromebook and the answer given was - it wasn't likely in the near future, as development would apparently have to be in some sort of Cloud IDE.
The Chromebook is more of a consumer device and thus isn't yet ready for development stuff. Then there's the need for commercial software, which is usually only available for Windows or OSX. And lastly, if your options are Linux or OSX and you don't want to pay the MS tax, you really, really want to buy a Mac. Because buying a regular laptop then installing Linux means that you paid the MS tax anyway.
"Linux means that you paid the MS tax anyway."
Not strictly true, do believe the story was actually here on the dear old Reg - Bloke (or blokesse) brought laptop at PC World (IIRC) then started the set-up and declined the MS Windows terms and conditions and got the MS prompt to return to the seller and get a refund for the Windoze software. Don't think PC Wank was to impressed but had to oblige as it is part of the legal contract of sale. Job done (well assuming you have a bootable Linux image).
Wrote :- "buying a regular laptop then installing Linux means that you paid the MS tax anyway"
You can buy laptops in the UK with nothing installed. I did recently. As you would expect from devices aimed at techies, they tend to be of superior spec to the high street/PC World stuff (and more expensive).
You see, I would rather die than ever touch anything made by fucking crapple. So the "thou must use crapos" seems ridiculous to me. But then google make you use fucking git, which has no windows support at all, and is an atrocious pile of wank. So what do google know? Knock out barely supported free app after free app then pull out the rug after a few months when next flavour comes along.
fucking idiots the lot of them. a pox on them all.
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I was an employee at Google at the time when the Aurora attack went public. The immediate reaction of the IT team was to get as many employees migrated away from Windows as quickly as possible. Consequently, Macs have been a large part of the laptop fleet ever since. There's no story here and its no secret that Googles employees use Macs.
the on-stage display reads "ne jamais travailler avec nouvelle technologie sur scene" which translates to "never work with new technology on stage"*
So the guy chooses to use a boring old MacBook instead of a new exciting ChromeBook. Makes perfect sense!
Coat, door, cab
*(grammar error faithfully reproduced in the translation, btw)
Whenever I've seen a Google-bot on the telly or in a photo, they're always using Apple machines so no news there, in fact, the same applies for Channel 4 News (anyone else noticed that everyone they interview or visit, even hard up homeowners, use Apple machines?)
But this post does raise an interesting question; Microsoft employees are expected to use Windows in demos and Apple employees are expected to use OS X or iOS, so one would expect that if Google does have an OS that runs on a laptop, why aren't they using it?
Maybe they wanted to be able to use it while not connected to the internet? I don't know.
Good catch.
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