I don't get it. And I'm almost a Google fanboy. I got a chromebook at Google IO last year. I use it very sporadically .. typically when my iPad is out of power.
The chromebox looks nice .. but can it really compare with a Mac Mini I have hooked up to my TV? I thought Google TV was supposed to take on that role.
Google TV, Android and Chrome ... there can only be one!
I was also a skeptic of Chromebooks until I took mine home from Google IO last year and gave it to my then 7yr old. His response after a few minutes, "Dad, this has the whole internet on it!"
This was followed by a detailed lesson from me on exactly how the "whole internet" works. Then later, regret on my part for not having explained that to him earlier.
Google TV is Android 3+ with some UI changes to make it better suited for TVs. Eventually, I think they will merge Chrome OS's great looks into the Chrome app for all platforms (especially Android), or at least do some kind of merge with Android and Chrome.
I don't like the idea of having "one UI" for all form factors, like Microsoft tries to do. I think that will only lead to being optimized for one form factor, and significantly underoptimized for others.
Personally, I'd like to see them use some kind of "UI modes", so you have a phone mode, a tablet mode, a TV mode, and a desktop mode (which may or may not be the same as the tablet one, but would probably be better if they are kept separate).
Of course, they should still make them resemble each other as much as possible, but you can't use a tablet UI for a TV, and you can't use a phone UI for a desktop monitor. So when I dock the phone into a PC monitor, I want to see the desktop mode, and when I dock it into the TV, I want to see the TV mode, and so on. I don't think there is such thing as "one UI for everything". It may be good for one form factor, but for all the others it will be mediocre at best.
The chromebox looks nice .. but can it really compare with a Mac Mini I have hooked up to my TV? I thought Google TV was supposed to take on that role.
Google TV, Android and Chrome ... there can only be one!